South  America  Today 

AUG  9 1922 


SodiJ  and  Rdigious  Movement 
as  observed  on  a trip  to  the 
Soudiem  Continent  in  1921 


SAMUEL  GUY  INMAN 
Executive  Secretary 

OxMxinee  on  Cooperation  in  Latin  America 


ComnMtee  on  Cooperatbn  in  Latin  America 
25  MADISON  AVENUE  NEW  YORK 


South  America  Today 


Social  and  Religious  Movements 
as  observed  on  a trip  to  the 
Southern  Continent  in  1921 


SAMUEL,  GUY  INMAN 
Executive  Secretary 

Committee  on  Cooperation  in  Latin  America 


Committee  on  Cooperation  in  Latin  America 
25  MADISON  AVENUE  NEW  YORK 


TAI5LE  OF  CONTFN  I'S 

Page 

INTRODUCTION  1 

I.  THE  I.ABOR  MOVEMENT 2 

11.  THE  EEMINIST  MOVEMEN'I' 22 

111.  HIE  1 e.mper.xnce;  .move.ment 3« 

1\'.  'HIE  MO\  EMENT  TO  .MODERNIZE  EDUCATION  43 

V.  REUIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  60 


INTRODUCTION 

Political  revolution  in  South  America  is  being  succeeded 
social  revolution.  This  outstanding  impression  is  being 
borne  in  upon  a present  day  visitor  to  that  great  continent 
in  whatever  direction  he  may  turn.  Social  revloution  is 
expressed  in  four  marked  movements,  which  are  ushering  in 
the  break  from  that  conservatism  of  the  past,  which  even 
yesterday  seemed  destined  to  preserve  for  many  years  its 
strong  hold.  These  movements  which  overlap  one  another 
and  receive  aid  from  many  other  less  prominent  influences 
are  the  labor  movement,  the  feminist  movement,  the  temper- 
ance movement  and  the  movement  for  modernizing  educa- 
tion. 

I do  not  wish  to  give  the  impression  that  these  new  move- 
ments have  become  predominant  in  the  social  life  of  South 
America.  The  old  conservative  customs  and  modes  of 
thought  that  have  prevailed  for  centuries  cannot  be  thrown 
off  in  a few  years.  It  wdll  be  a long  time  before  the  great  in- 
ertia of  the  masses  and  the  strongly  organized  opposition  can 
be  overcome.  But  certainly  all  these  movements  will  rapidly 
take  on  force,  and  the  opportunity  to  guide  them  to  a right, 
instead  of  a wrong,  use  presents  a great  challenge  to  the 
friends  of  South  America. 

In  calling  attention  to  their  developments,  my  purpose  is 
not  by  any  means  to  treat  them  exhaustively.  I desire  simply 
to  bring  to  my  readers  a few  facts  and  experiences  of  my 
trip  to  South  America  from  March  to  July  of  1921,  with  the 
hope  that  they  will  impress  all  interested,  as  they  have  me, 
with  the  rapidly  changing  conditions  in  South  America. 
Most  of  my  readers  will  be  those  particularly  interested  in 
the  religious  progress  of  the  Southern  continent.  Believing, 
as  I do,  that  these  social  problems  are  intimately  bound  up 
with  the  religious  situation,  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  it  would 
be  more  helpful  at  this  time  to  direct  attention  to  the  general 
situation,  than  to  give  a survey  of  Christian  work  such  as 
has  been  published  following  other  visits. 


1 


I. 

THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 
The  new  labor  movement  is  the  most  astounding  of  all 
the  remarkable  social  influences  now  so  rapidly  transforming 
South  America.  The  pitiable  condition  of  labor  in  the  past 
in  Latin  America  is  generally  well  known  and  need  not  be 
treated  here.  The  two  words  used  to  describe  the  laborer  are 
sufficient  to  indicate  his  state,  “peon,”  denoting  a financial 
obligation  to  an  employer  not  possible  to  shake  loose,  and 
“roto,”  a broken,  ragged  fellow.  Historically,  these  condi- 
tions were  established  when  the  Spanish  hidalgos  were  given 
grants  of  land  and  allowed  to  force  the  Indians  to  labor  for 
them.  Country  labor  was  always  kept  in  debt  and  town  labor 
consisted  largely  of  the  personal  servants  of  rich  families. 
Such  public  work  as  was  carried  on  was  generally  done  by 
prisoners.  The  relationship  between  “amo”  and  “peon”  was 
m.ore  or  less  patriarchal.  No  such  thing  as  “labor  unrest” 
was  ever  heard  of.  Even  today  in  many  a country  or  great 
region  of  Latin  America  the  laborer,  even  when  his  material 
state  leaves  much  to  be  desired  from  a sanitary  or  progressive 
viewpoint,  appears  to  be  unaware  that  there  is  anything 
wrong;  I have  seen  the  Indian  living  under  conditions  into 
which  comfort  apparently  rarely  entered,  under  which  he 
never  owned  anything  but  the  barest  hut  for  shelter  and  the 
poorest  rags  as  clothes  and,  with  his  food  limited  to  the 
scantest  dishes  both  in  quantity  and  variety,  had  no  per- 
ceptible pleasure  in  life  except  when  he  took  some  strong 
alcoholic  drink  at  a “fiesta.”  But  unrest  there  was  none,  since 
the  idea  of  social  revolt  and  of  the  securing  of  better  con- 
ditions through  revolt  was  absent.  But  sooner  or  later  the 
industrial  age  had  to  invade  Latin  America.  The  personal 
relationship  between  employer  and  employee  were  severed. 
Workmen  began  to  come  together  in  large  numbers  in  cities 
where  they  saw  a new  life,  and  began  to  hear  of  the  outside 
world  and  its  economic  problems.  When  workmen  first 
heard  of  the  strike  as  practised  by  their  brothers  in  Europe 
and  North  America,  and  essayed  to  invoke  it,  they  were  met 
with  a show  of  military  force  and  compelled  to  desist.  A 
strike  was  a revolution.  Even  when  the  government  did  not 


2 


drive  them  back  to  work,  they  had  no  idea  of  sticking  to  their 
demands  until  favorable  action  was  forced. 

It  was  often  amusing  to  read  the  manifestos  which  they 
issued  as  they  returned  to  their  jobs,  expressing  their  satis* 
faction  that  they  had  publicly  protested  against  a certain  in- 
justice, and  thus  had  saved  their  “dignidad.”  Evidently,  they 
considered  their  dignity  as  much  more  important  than  the 
still  unsettled  injustice,  against  which  they  struck.  Strangely 
enough,  the  cause,  not  only  of  these  first  strikes,  but  even 
of  some  of  the  most  important  and  far-reaching  recent  labor 
struggles,  has  not  been  economic  but  personal.  With  the  in- 
dividualistic Latin  hours  and  wages  are  not  as  important  as 
are  questions  of  the  discharge  of  friends  or  the  employment 
of  enemies. 

The  awakening  of  the  workingman  has  not  been  equally 
marked  in  all  countries  of  South  America.  Labor  in  the 
tropical  part  of  the  continent  is  still  far  from  any  idea  of 
organization  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  better  conditions.  In 
countries  like  Peru,  where  labor  is  almost  entirely  Indian, 
peonage  is  still  largely  the  rule.  There  was  a recent  uprising  of 
Indian  miners,  but  they  were  soon  forced  back  to  their  work. 
One  hears  about  labor  organizations  in  certain  industrial 
centers  near  Lima,  and  in  the  petroleum,  sugar  and  mining 
districts.  But  when  investigation  is  made,  it  is  found  that 
these  are  merely  mutual  societies,  in  which  the  workmen  are 
associated  for  insurance  and  social  purposes,  but  do  not  pre- 
tend to  work  for  better  contracts  with  their  employers.  A 
more  pessimistic  group  can  hardly  be  found.  They  are  tired 
of  following  political  revolutionists  who  promise  everything 
before  getting  a position,  but  forget  all  when  victorious.  They 
realize  full  well  that  they  are  powerless  before  the  combina- 
tion of  owner,  priest  and  government.  The  only  friends  they 
seem  to  recognize  are  the  students  of  the  University,  who 
are  doing  really  sacrifical  work  in  teaching  night  classes  at- 
tended by  hundreds  of  working  people  in  and  around  the 
capital. 

Faint  signs  of  an  approaching  awakening  are  seen  how- 
ever in  the  little  sheets  which  these  organizations  are  pub- 
lishing. The  following,  translated  freely  from  some  of  the 
pitiable  little  labor  papers  purchased  at  a newsstand  in  Lima, 
show  their  keen  desire  for  a deliverance  of  which  they  have 
heard  something  but  understand  nothing. 


3 


“Listen,  Brother  to  my  notes  of  red  with  which  my  song  is 
vibrating,  I sing  to  life, — death  to  death  ! I go  planting  roses 
made  of  love  and  truth.  Anarchism  is  my  liberating  thought 
I am  the  Word  which  rises  in  humanity’s  darkest  night  and 
scatters  all  its  pain.  Lister,  Sister,  it  is  time  to  rise  and  greet 
the  morning  light  which  kisses  our  darkest  suffering! 

“Arise!  all  the  poor  of  the  Universe!  Stand!  Slaves  with- 
out bread!  Shout,  all  together!  Long  live  ‘la  Internacional !’ 
Away  with  all  the  impediments  that  block  the  proletariat 
from  the  enjoyment  of  our  riches!  Down  with  the  parasites 
of  labor,  Long  live  ‘la  Internacional  !’  ’’ 

Far  different  from  these  incoherent  cries,  heard  in  the  night 
in  Peru,  are  the  strong  voices  in  some  of  the  other  countries 
threateningly  demanding  new  rights  and  privileges.  In  the 
past  year,  in  the  more  progressive  South  American  countries 
the  working  class  has  passed  definitely  from  the  status  of 
an  inert  mass  of  humanity,  to  be  bought  as  cheaply  as  pos- 
sible by  foreign  and  domestic  capitalists,  and  has  become  a 
class-conscious  body  of  workingmen,  a political  force  to  be 
reckoned  with. 

There  has  been  a welter  of  strikes  on  every  hand,  accom- 
panied usually  by  violence  and  stressing  the  recognition  of 
the  union  to  a greater  extent  than  more  money  or  shorter 
hours.  The  cost  of  living  has  been  a source  of  discontent 
everywhere.  For  the  South  American  countries  no  reliable 
index  numbers  exist,  but  price  levels,  in  a number  of  coun- 
tries, are  probably  slightly  above  those  in  the  United  States. 
Depreciated  currency,  fluctuating  exchange  values  and 
the  refusal  of  the  propertied  classes  to  pay  their  fair  share 
of  the  taxes  have  increased  the  pressure  even  more.  In 
Paraguay  even  the  storekeepers  shut  up  shop  and  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  strikers.  South  America  has  a large  floating 
population  of  workers,  many  of  whom,  before  the  war,  came  and 
went  betw^een  Europe  and  the  East  Coast  countries  in  a regu- 
lar seasonal  flux.  The  governments,  particularly  in  Argen- 
tina and  Brazil,  have  arrested  literally  hundreds  of  suspected 
foreigner  leaders,  usually  Spaniards  or  Russians,  deporting 
or  holding  them  indefinitely  in  jail.  None  of  these  leaders, 
however,  has  become  an  outstanding  figure  to  which  a per- 
sonality or  even  a name  can  be  attached.  Their  success  must 
have  been  due  in  large  part  to  a discontent  lying  everywhere 
close  to  the  surface,  which  flared  up  in  the  wheatfields  and 


4 


the  l)ack  reaches  of  the  quel)racho  iorests  as  easily  as  along 
the  crorvded  waterfronts  of  the  cities. 

Argentina 

Argentina  has  been  the  center  of  the  strongest  radical  influ- 
ence. Not  only  the  workmen  but  the  students  and  professors 
of  the  unirersities  seem  to  hare  largely  gone  over  to  the 
soviet  position.  The  most  important  labor  organization  of 
the  country  is  the  “Federacion  Obrera  Regional  Argentina.”  or 
as  it  is  popularly  known  by  its  initials.  The  “h.  ().  R.  A.  Dr. 
Alfredo  Palacios,  professor  of  sociology  in  the  University  of 
Buenos  Aires,  in  an  address  before  the  university  has  given 
a full  account  of  this  remarkable  organization,  \\  hich  now  has 
some  300,000  members.  I'he  following  facts  about  the  or- 
ganization are  taken  from  that  lecture; 

The  inr  estigation  of  the  organization  of  the  fl'.  ( ).  R.  A. 
affords  a real  surprise  to  those  who  har  e claimed  that  the 
labor  movement  in  Argentina  is  jnirely  a matter  of  p;oles- 
sional  agitators,  d'he  F.  O.  R.  A.  was  organized  on  the  25th 
of  May,  1901.  In  1915  there  rvere  51  federations  in  its  mem- 
bership. rvith  $20,521  collected  as  dues.  In  1919  there  were 
530  federations,  rvhose  meml'Crship  anyonnted  to  over  300,000 
and  paid  in  as  dues  the  sum  of  $488,549.  .At  the  beginning  of 
the  organization  in  1905  it  was  decided  to  jrroiragate  anarchi- 
cal communism.  4'he  following  resolution  was  passed:  “The 
Fifth  Congress  of  the  F.  (J.  R.  A.,  recognizing  the  philosoph- 
ical jirinciples  which  have  been  the  basis  for  the  organization 
of  workmen’s  federations,  declares:  It  approves  and  recom- 
mends to  all  its  adherents  the  inculcation  among  the  work- 
men of  the  philosophical  and  economic  doctrine  of  anarchical 
communism.  This  education  prohibiting  satisfaction  in  the 
mere  obtaining  of  the  rule  of  eight  hours  will  comiilete  eman- 
cipation and  bring  about  the  social  evolution  w'hich  is  de- 
sired.” The  Congress  of  1915,  however,  changed  the  basic 
rule  of  the  organization,  abandoning  syndicalism.  The  reso- 
lution w hich  changed  the  basis  of  the  F.  O.  R.  A.  in  1915  pro- 
vided that : “The  F.  O.  R.  A.  will  not  pronounce  itself  ofifi- 
cially  on  the  side  of  any  jihilosophical  system  or  determined 
theories  whose  propaganda  according  to  the  autonomy  of  the 
individual  is  not  directed  nor  limited,  but  on  the  contrary  the 
most  tolerant  discussion  of  scientific  and  philosophical 
themes  according  to  the  different  modes  of  thought  of  fed- 


5 


erated  workmen  is  permitted.  The  F.  O.  R.  A.  recognizes 
that  the  present  economic  system  is  characterized  by  the  ex- 
istence of  two  classes,  the  capitalists,  the  possessors  of  the 
means  of  work,  and  workmen,  who  create  social  riches ; that 
that  state  is  a tangible  and  coercive  expression  of  the  social 
domination  which  capital  exercises,  and  therefore  that  the 
federations  propose  to  make  accessible  to  the  workmen  all 
the  scientific  and  social  contributions  toward  production.” 
The  F.  O.  R.  A.  is  made  up  only  of  the  syndicated  organiza- 
tions of  salaried  workmen  who  accept  the  class  struggle  and 
have  as  their  object  the  organization  of  the  working  classes 
in  order  to  effect  their  moral,  economic  and  intellectual  bet- 
terment. The  F.  O.  R.  A.  membership  is  kept  from  being 
padded  l)y  a requirement  that  each  member  of  every  federated 
organization  pay  a certain  definite  amount  of  dues. 

The  port  strike  of  1916  marks  the  definite  beginning  of  the 
F.  O.  R.  A.’s  strength.  The  intervention  of  the  federated  so- 
cieties in  that  strike  was  decisive.  Inspector  Nicholson  points 
out  the  conditions  of  longshoremen  in  Buenos  Aires  as  fol- 
lows: “Men  worked  without  fixed  hours.  The  twelve  hours 
of  other  times  had  been  increased  to  sixteen,  which  in  some 
places,  as  at  Montevideo,  was  increased  until  men  began  at 
4.30  a.  m.  and  quit  at  11  p.  m.  On  the  steamboats,  firemen 
were  paid  55  pesos,  seamen  45,  with  overtime  at  25  cents  an 
hour.”  When  the  Department  of  I’ublic  M'orks  offered  medi- 
ation, the  shipping  companies  rejected  it,  but  the  seamen’s 
federation  accepted.  Later  the  arbitration  of  the  president  of 
the  Republic,  who  appointed  as  his  personal  representative 
the  chief  of  police  of  Buenos  Aires,  was  accepted.  The  de- 
cision of  the  arbitrator  gave  to  the  workmen  90  to  95  per  cent, 
of  their  demands. 

The  F.  O.  R.  A.  has  recently  occupied  itself  with  the  cost  of 
living.  Its  report  says  that  the  ways  to  reduce  the  cost  of 
living  are.  first,  by  workmen  demanding  the  raising  of  their 
salaries,  and,  second,  by  their  using  every  possible  means  to 
agitate  this  raising  of  salary.  In  the  nation-wide  railroad 
strike  the  F.  O.  R.  A.  also  took  an  important  part.  When 
Buenos  Aires  was  threatened  with  starvation,  because  of  the 
strike,  the  Minister  of  Public  Works  petitioned  the  officials 
of  this  organization  to  allow  food  trains  to  be  run,  and  this 
was  granted  under  certain  conditions.  The  F.  O.  R.  A.  thus 
reports  the  settlement  of  this  strike,  the  greatest  strike  in 


6 


the  history  of  the  proletariat  settled  favorably  through 
the  workmen.  It  was  important  because  of  the  num- 
ber of  workmen  involved,  because  of  the  principles  at  stake 
and  because  of  its  significance  in  class  struggle.  The  rail- 
road workmen  had,  during  the  twenty-four  days  of  the  con- 
flict, the  most  intense  sympathy  of  all  the  working  classes. 
They  realized,  in  this  conflict  between  capital  and  labor,  that 
the  patient  work  of  many  years  given  to  organization  was 
being  tested  and  they  were  resolved  to  offer  every  assistance. 
This  was  not  necessary,  for  the  railroad  workers  co-operated 
closely  and  came  out  of  the  struggle  stronger  than  ever. 
From  now  on  the  owners  will  feel  deeply  troubled  by  this 
new  organization  which  is  destined  to  control  the  railroads 
at  no  distant  date. 

The  strike  of  stevedores  in  the  northern  city  of  Posadas  in 
1918  gave  opportunity  for  the  intervention  of  the  Pb  O.  R.  A. 
in  the  district  of  the  Alto  Parana.  There  the  workmen  are 
really  slaves,  since  they  can  never  repay  the  amounts  that  are 
first  advanced  to  them  on  salary  account.  If  they  demand 
liberty,  they  are  chastized.  If  they  flee  to  the  forest,  they  are 
hunted  like  animals.  A copy  of  the  contract  with  these  labor- 
ers provides  that : “Each  peon  who  abandons  work  without  per- 
mission of  the  patron,  absenting  himself  from  the  establish- 
ment, incurs  a responsibility  for  damages,  in  which  case  he 
will  be  considered  as  a fugitive  and  the  patron  is  authorized 
to  pursue  him  and  to  compel  him  to  comply  with  his  contract. 
If  the  peon  loses  his  time-book,  he  must  submit  himself  to 
the  data  contained  in  the  firm’s  books.  The  peon  must  work 
every  day  that  the  patron  designates,  Sundays,  holidays,  or 
rainy  days  not  excepted,  as  also  he  must  work  at  night,  if 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather  has  not  permitted  him  to  do 
so  during  the  day.  If,  for  lack  of  desire,  he  pretends  sickness 
in  order  not  to  work,  especially  on  Sunday,  he  will  pay  50 
cents  a day  for  his  meals,  besides  losing  his  salary.” 

In  1918,  when  the  workmen  of  Posadas  finally  declared  a 
strike,  the  F.  O.  R.  A.  sent  a commissioner  to  study  the  sit- 
uation, aided  in  the  better  organization  of  the  workmen,  and 
ultimately  secured  better  wages  and  better  treatment  all 
around.  After  ten  years  of  work  under  conditions  as  above 
described,  the  peons  are  physically  deformed  and  their  bodies 
wasted,  according  to  the  commissioner,  who  reports  that  it 
is  very  common  for  those  who  return  from  the  Alto  Parana 


7 


to  ha\  e tulierculosis,  which  prog^resse?  \ ery  rapidly  and  is 
g^enerally  -without  cure,  causing  death  before  the  individual  is 
30  years  of  age. 

The  F.  O.  R.  A.  has  also  made  interesting  studies  concern- 
ing the  laborers  on  the  great  cstancicros  of  Argentina,  assist- 
ing in  the  organization  of  these  workmen.  Another  part  of 
their  program  has  been  the  investigation  of  the  condition  of 
renters  of  country  lands,  where  they  have  found  great  abuses. 
The  F.  O.  R.  A.  has  sustained  a continuous  fight  against  legis- 
lation unfavorable  to  workingmen  and  has  advocated  in  sea- 
son and  out  of  season  the  right  of  labor  to  strike,  which  right 
is  now  fully  recognized  by  the  law. 

Immigration 

I'he  rjuestion  of  immigration  has  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
organization  and  it  has  pronounced  against  the  fomenting  of  an 
artificial  immigration  by  “capital  which  considers  the  country  as  a 
factory.”  It  projioses  to  maintain  relationships  with  European 
workmen  hy  which  proper  arrangements  for  immigration  may  be 
made.  Organic  relationships  are  maintained  with  the  “Inter- 
nacional 

The  strikes  referred  to  in  this  account  of  the  F.  O.  R.  A. 
are  only  a few  of  those  which  have  caused  Buenos  Aires  to 
suffer  more  from  labor  troubles  in  the  last  tw’o  years  than 
probably  any  other  city  in  the  world.  At  certain  times,  all 
business  has  been  suspended  for  days  and  only  armed  men 
and  machine  guns  have  been  seen  on  the  streets. 

The  biggest  labor  fight  of  the  year  in  South  America,  and 
the  most  important  one  internationally,  was  the  year-long  strike 
of  the  Argentine  maritime  workers,  the  “Federacion  Obrera 
Maritima.”  This  strike  tied  up  completely  for  a whole  year 
all  the  Mihanovich  fleet,  twenty  or  more  ships  owned  by  the 
Argentina  Navigation  Company.  From  this  company  the 
strike  spread  to  the  boats  of  the  towing  company  and  the 
ships  that  served  the  central  products  market  of  Buenos 
Aires.  I'his  paralyzed  traffic  on  the  River  Plate  between  Ar- 
gentina, Uruguay  and  Paraguay,  and  all  Argentine  coastal 
traffic.  The  president  of  Argentina  charged  the  company 
with  “intransigency”  and  the  company  issued  in  September 
a long  defense,  saying  in  part: 

“We  must  place  it  upon  record  that  this  company  has  never 
made  any  question  as  to  w'hether  its  personnel  belongs  or  does 


8 


not  belong'  to  a trades  union,  and  it  lias  always  selected  its 
employees  solely  on  their  qualifications.  . . . your  Excellency 
will  perceive  that  it  would  be  monstrous  for  us  to  expel  the 
present  crews  of  the  Uruguayan  ships  (the  ships  registered 
under  the  Uruguavan  flag)  in  order  to  replace  them  by  fed- 
erated crews.  W e hai  e no  other  questions  at  issue  with  our 
personnel  on  strike ; no  requests  for  higher  salaries,  nor  any 
complaints  as  to  ivorking  hours  or  conditions,  meals,  or  any 
other  point.  W'e  have  borne  with  patience  the  lack  of  dis- 
cipline on  board  and  also  the  boycott  against  cargoes  as  or- 
dained by  the  F.  O.  Maritima  and  as  at  present  practiced  in 
the  port  of  Buenos  Aires.  We  are  aware  of  no  other  cause  of 
conflict  than  those  stated.” 

I'he  main  strike  began  February,  1920,  though  there  had 
lieen  trouble  since  the  port  strikes  of  the  year  before,  over  the 
refusal  of  the  company  to  discharge  from  its  shipyard  work- 
men who  continued  to  work  during  the  strikes  at  shipyards 
in  Buenos  Aires,  d'he  struggle  meant  the  tying  up  of  many 
foreign  vessels  that  were  loading  with  grain  for  export.  The 
government  endeavored  to  settle  the  port  difficulties  by  fiscal- 
izing  the  port,  taking  over  the  boats  and  operating  them  prac- 
tically as  navy  tugs. 

But  fiscalization  was  really  a victory  for  the  workmen. 
They  established  a practical  soviet  at  the  ports,  controlled 
shipping  conditions  and  levied  a tax  for  the  support  of  their 
federation  on  every  article  handled  by  them.  The  Mihano- 
vich  Company,  after  tying  up  their  boats  for  a year,  had  to 
finally  give  in  and  accept  practically  all  the  demands  of  the 
Federation.  WTen  a difficulty  arose  among  the  crew  of  the 
United  States  steamer  “Martha  Washington,”  as  she  lay  in  the 
harbor  of  Buenos  Aires,  resulting  in  the  discharge  of  several 
men,  the  Federation  took  up  their  cause  with  such  persistency 
that  the  steamship  was  held  in  port  for  two  months.  It  was 
only  after  the  matter  threatened  a diplomatic  break  betw’een 
the  governments  of  the  two  countries  that  the  Argentina  gov- 
ernment exercised  sufficient  force  to  compel  the  Federation 
to  permit  the  loading  and  sailing  of  the  ship. 

In  May  of  1921  the  situation  reached  a climax.  A cordon 
of  soldiers  was  thrown  around  the  wharfs  and  even  the  cap- 
tain of  a ship  had  to  have  a permit  in  order  to  return  from 
land  to  his  ship.  All  foreign  traffic  was  tied  up  for  weeks. 
The  writer  was  able  to  get  out  of  the  city  only  by  taking  a 

9 


river  boat  to  Montevideo,  pulling  his  own  trunk  on  board,  as 
no  workmen  were  allowed  to  touch  baggage.  When,  in  des- 
peration, the  business  men  threatened  to  close  all  wholesale 
houses  and  the  steamship  agents  threatened  to  have  Buenos 
Aires  eliminated  as  a port  of  call  for  their  vessels,  the  gov- 
ernment forced  a break  in  the  strike.  Some  six  hundred  rad- 
icals were  arrested  in  a few  days.  As  a protest,  a strike  of 
all  affiliated  unions  was  called,  but  failed  to  materialize. 
Normal  conditions,  after  more  than  two  years  of  terrific  in- 
dustrial war,  are  now  gradually  being  restored  in  the  city  of 
Buenos  Aires.  (September,  1921.) 

Another  important  group  that  shared  in  the  general  dis- 
turbance was  that  of  the  railroad  workers.  After  several 
strikes  an  agreement  was  reached  between  the  managers  of 
all  the  important  railway  companies  and  the  representatives 
of  the  operatives.  The  agreement  was  comprehensive,  includ- 
ing forty  articles  that  cover  every  possible  question  of  wages 
and  working  conditions.  It  is  the  first  important  collective 
contract  in  the  country  and  was  signed  by  representatives  of 
the  tw'o  sides  after  twenty  meetings  held  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Minister  of  Public  Works.  On  the  following  Monday 
after  the  agreement  was  signed,  a committee,  speaking  for 
the  managements  of  the  various  roads,  called  on  the  Minister 
of  Public  Works  to  inform  him  that  they  had  voluntarily  ac- 
corded increases  in  wages  to  all  employes,  but  more  especially 
to  the  lower-paid  classes,  on  the  ground  that  present  wages, 
though  much  above  pre-war  levels,  could  not  adequately  meet 
increased  living  costs.  The  contemplated  increases  would 
total  about  $10,000,000  for  all  companies  concerned. 

Tbe  strikes  most  interesting  in  their  implications,  perhaps,  were 
those  that  took  place  among  the  agricultural  workers  against 
some  of  the  big  land  companies.  The  agricultural  strikes  were 
accompanied  by  strikes  among  the  stevedores  at  the  grain  ter- 
minals and  among  the  railway  men.  They  then  spread  to  all 
classes  of  labor  in  the  up-river  and  interior  cities.  In  Rosario 
in  the  middle  of  March,  stevedores,  carters,  chauffeurs,  bagmen 
and  milkmen  were  all  out  at  the  same  time.  The  workers  in  the 
state  oil  fields  at  Comodore  Rivadavia  also  went  out,  partly  on 
a sympathly  strike,  partly  for  better  working  conditions.  The 
Forestal  Land  Company’s  annual  report  describes  the  strike  of 
their  workers  for  recognition  of  the  union  : 

“On  December  12  a telegram  was  received  from  the  workmen 

10  i 


at  the  various  factories  giving  us  twenty-four  hours  in  which  to 
reinstate  certain  men  who  had  been  dismissed.  On  Sunday, 
December  14,  strikes  broke  out  at  all  the  factories,  but  it  was 
only  at  Tartagal  that  conditions  assumed  a revolutionary  aspect. 
Some  damage  was  done  to  our  property,  and  a considerable 
amount  of  logs  and  extract  was  burned.  A detachment  of  police 
guards  arrived  upon  the  scene,  to  be  reinforced  later  on  by  a 
consideral)le  body  of  troops.  Telegraph  lines  were  cut  and  re- 
mained cut  for  a long  period ; a large  number  of  our  cattle  were 
rounded  up  and  slaughtered.  The  losses  incurred  have  been 
written  off.  The  strike  came  to  an  end  on  January  11,  1921.  Since 
that  time  labor  has  been  very  unsettled  throughout  the  Argentine, 
and  as  recently  as  April  21  last,  sudden  further  trouble  occurred 
at  our  Guillermina  factory,  when  the  local  manager  was  killed 
by  workmen.” 

The  strike  was  officially  ended  after  four  weeks  of  negotiations 
and  a property  loss  of  $550,000.  The  company  refused  through- 
out to  treat  with  “outside  elements,”  but  consented  to  the  election 
of  committees  of  the  workingmen  at  each  factory  to  treat  with 
the  local  managers  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  wages  and  work- 
ing conditions. 

Buenos  Aires,  a city  of  more  than  1,500,000  inhabitants  and 
with  more  than  thirty  daily  newspapers  in  many  languages  was 
recently  without  newspapers  or  even  bulletins  for  six  days,  bring- 
ing back  the  pioneer  days  when  the  population  awaited  the  arrival 
of  sailing  ships  to  learn  what  was  going  on  elsewhere.  The  people 
appeared  to  accept  the  situation  complacently  as  merely  another 
phase  of  the  many  labor  troubles  which  had  beset  the  city  in  past 
months.  Fifteen  of  the  principal  publishers  decided  to  close 
down  their  plants  indefinitely  after  the  refusal  of  union  printers 
to  set  the  advertisement  of  a boycotted  department  store.  The 
smaller  papers  were  forced  to  suspend  publication  because  they 
could  no  longer  use  the  presses  of  the  larger  papers.  Determined 
that  they  should  not  be  the  only  sufferers,  the  publishers  stopped 
posting  news  dispatches  on  the  bulletin  boards.  The  boards  were 
covered  with  this  notice : “This  paper  suspended  indefinitely 
because  of  the  united  fight  for  literty  of  the  press.”  The  strike 
of  street  car  employes,  which  was  in  progress  for  a week,  appar- 
ently caused  more  inconvenience  than  the  lack  of  newspapers.  The 
lack  of  disorder  in  spite  of  the  unusual  situation  was  very  notice- 
able. Public  officials  and  the  newspaper  publishers  made  a special 


11 


effort  to  suppress  incendiary  news.  Business  was  greatly  un- 
settled. Two  hundred  firms  were  at  the  same  time  taced  with 
differences  with  their  employes. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  disturbance,  with  wholesale  arrests  by 
the  police  and  the  activities  of  local  “patriotic”  societies,  general 
elections  for  Congress  were  held  in  Argentina.  They  resulted  in 
a very  decided  victory  for  the  Radical  party,  whose  head,  Irygoyen, 
is  now  President  of  the  Republic,  with  Socialists  in  second  place. 
Of  150,000  straight  party  votes  cast  in  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires, 
55,000  w'ere  Radical,  49,000  were  Socialist,  and  only  33,000 
Progressive-Democrat,  the  conservative  party  that  has  ruled  so 
long.  Immediately  following  the  elections  the  government  raided 
certain  suspected  centers  of  Radical  activity  in  Buenos  Aires  and 
the  suburbs,  arrested  150  “anarchists,”  and  doubled  the  guards 
about  the  city,  alleging  that  they  had  frustrated  a communist 
conspiracy  to  set  up  a soviet  in  South  America.  Had  they  taken 
measures  to  break  the  river  strike,  they  would  doubtless  have  re- 
ceived more  thanks  from  the  business  men  of  the  city,  and  the 
outside  world  to  whom  they  must  look  for  financial  aid. 


Chile 

Chile  has  had  almost  as  many  labor  difficulties  as  Argentina. 
The  development  in  Chile  does  not  show,  however,  anything  like 
as  much  foreign  influence.  Being  on  the  west  coast,  it  is  more 
removed  from  Europe.  Chile  has  always  been  one  of  the  most 
homogeneous  of  Latin  American  lands.  It  has  developed  its  own 
national  life,  which  is  probably  more  marked  than  that  of  any 
other  country  on  the  continent.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  repub- 
lic there  have  been  very  few  revolutions.  The  country  has  been 
ruled  largely  by  an  oligarchy  of  about  a hundred  families  who  have 
been  lioth  the  owners  of  the  land  and  the  directors  of  the  political 
and  commercial  life  of  the  country.  The  Chilean  “roto”  has  been 
showing  a great  deal  of  restlessness  for  the  last  decade.  Many 
people  have  expected  the  laboring  classes  to  lead  in  a revolution 
which  would  overthrow  the  capitalistic  regime.  The  shedding  of 
blood  has  happily  been  averted  by  a recent  political  uprising  which 
is  a most  remarkable  demonstration  of  the  power  of  Latin  Ameri- 
cans to  accomplish  reforms  by  civic  means. 

Due  to  the  unsettled  financial  conditions  throughout  the  world 
and  the  resulting  unsteadiness  of  the  business  situation,  the  labor- 


ing  classes  joined  the  Liberal  Party  in  its  nomination  last  April,  of 
Arturo  Alessandri  for  presidential  candidate.  Their  platform 
advocated  currency  reform,  the  income  tax,  protection  of  national 
industries  from  foreign  aggression,  various  solutions  for  social 
evils,  the  education  of  women  and  children,  prohibition,  parlia- 
mentary reforms,  and  the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  The 
Conservatives,  made  up  chiefly  of  the  landowners  and  property 
holders,  fought  hard  to  prevent  the  election  of  the  Liberal  candi- 
date. After  a hot  contest,  in  which  the  workingmen  of  the  large 
cities  gave  many  “demonstrations"  for  Alessandri  and  made  it 
quite  evident  that  there  would  be  troulfle  should  there  be  an 
attempt  to  inaugurate  the  opposing  candidate,  the  election  of  Mr. 
Alessandri  was  confirmed  by  Congress. 

The  power  to  awaken  a popular  interest  in  politics  and  draw  the 
ardent  support  of  his  party  must  be  attributed  first  of  all  to  the 
personality  of  Alessandri  himself.  He  is  “fearless  and  resolute, 
generous  and  eloquent.”  From  his  first  successful  appearance  in 
reform  movement  in  Iquique,  when  he  was  chosen  to  lead  the 
attempt  to  wipe  out  its  local  “Tammany,"  Mr.  Ales.sandri  has 
been  marked  for  the  great  opportunity  which  now  looms  before 
him. 

Of  the  reform  in  international  politics  for  which  the  Chileans 
are  calling,  aiid  which  Alessandri  has  already  promised  to  comply 
with,  are  the  following:  “Decentralization  of  the  administrative 
power  of  the  government,  giving  to  the  provinces  the  right  to 
select  their  own  officials  and  dispose  of  their  public  revenue;  the 
stabilizing  of  exchange;  the  enfranchisement  of  women;  the  sep- 
aration of  Church  and  State ; extending  and  perfecting  the  pro- 
tection of  labor;  the  creation  of  portfolios  of  labor  and  agriculture 
in  the  Cabinet ; the  introduction  of  vocational  education.  Ales- 
sandri l)elieves  that  the  European  war  has  taught  that  the  nations 
of  the  American  continent  have  now  one  more  reason  to  unify 
their  effort  toward  progress,  and  to  draw  closer  those  moral  and 
cultural  ties  which  count  even  more  than  material  intercourse. 

President  Ales.sandri  is  encountering  great  opposition  from  the 
oligarchy  which  has  been  accustomed  to  exploit  the  laboring  classes 
and  is  now  going  as  far  as  it  dares  in  checking  the  president’s  pro- 
posed reforms.  A test  of  strength  between  the  president  and  the 
senate  was  made  during  my  recent  visit  to  Santiago.  When  the 
senate  refused  to  approve  the  recommendation  of  one  of  the  presi- 
dent’s cabinet,  the  cabinet,  following  custom,  resigned.  The  presi- 
dent refused  to  accept  the  resignation  saying  that  the  senate  must 


13 


give  a definite  vote  of  censure  before  he  would  accept  such  resig- 
nations. The  laboring  men  immediately  staged  a large  demonstra- 
tion in  favor  of  the  president,  not  only  marching  through  the 
streets  but  standing  before  his  home  in  relays  for  some  two  days 
in  a continuous  demonstration  of  friendship,  while  some  of  the 
party  made  sortes  to  the  homes  of  certain  senators  which  they 
attacked  as  indicative  of  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  senate’s 
tying  the  hands  of  the  president.  The  situation  was  very  tense 
and  if  the  president,  who  is  a very  popular  man  with  the  common 
people,  had  given  them  any  encouragement  whatever,  they  would 
have  treated  the  reactionary  element  very  roughly. 

There  is  probably  no  other  country  in  the  world  where  the  daily 
press  is  giving  so  much  space  to  lal)or  movements  as  in  Chile  at 
present.  Most  of  the  large  dailies  (and  the  Chilean  press  is  par- 
ticularly progressive ) give  a whole  page  to  labor  every  day  and 
often  items  under  this  heading  are  continued  on  other  pages. 
Entering  the  country  l)y  steamer  from  the  North,  one  lands  in 
the  midst  of  this  laljor  troulde  in  cities  like  Iquique  and  Antofa- 
gasta, centers  of  the  nitrate  region.  The  nitrate  business  has  gone 
all  to  pieces  since  the  close  of  the  war.  There  is  a great  deal  of 
unemployment  and  an  attemjtt  to  greatly  reduce  wages  has  been 
made.  Some  foreign  agitators  have  come  to  this  district  to  assist 
the  laboring  men  in  their  organized  protests.  Strikes  are  the 
order  of  the  day.  Twelve  separate  walk-outs  were  reported  in 
Antofogasta  during  my  visit  in  June. 

For  two  years  labor  troubles  have  l)een  particularly  keen.  In 
Santiago  and  the  vicinity  a general  strike  was  called  in  sympathy 
with  thirty-eight  striking  brewery  drivers.  A longshoremen’s 
strike  at  Valparaiso  and  Antofogasta  tied  up  coastal  services  badly. 
The  railroad  men  in  the  north  walked  out.  but  were  given  a raise 
in  pay.  The  native  workmen  at  the  Braden  copper  mines  struck 
for  recognition  of  their  union.  It  is  reported  that  out  of  6,(300 
men  2,000  were  put  on  special  trains  and  shipped  half  south  and 
half  north. 

The  strikes  in  the  coal  mines  have  been  the  most  serious.  The 
miners  asked  for  an  average  increase  of  40  per  cent.  The  coal 
barons  of  Chile  are  barons  in  the  feudal  sense  of  the  word,  making 
what  even  North  American  capitalists  call  “unconscionable  pro- 
fits.” The  large  majority  of  the  miners  live  in  company  houses 
and  trade  at  company  stores.  The  representative  of  the  Chilean 
Department  of  Labor  who  investigated  conditions  reported  that 
the  men  made  the  equivalent  of  $1.60  to  $2.20  a day.  They  are 


14 


paid,  however,  not  in  currency  but  in  company  values  that  are 
liquidated  only  about  five  times  a year.  The  working  day  is  from 
six  to  six  and  children  of  from  eight  to  sixteen  years  are  employed 
for  vH  to  80  cents  a day.  These  men  asked  for  an  eight-hour  day, 
payments  in  currency,  recognition  of  the  union  and  better  police 
regulations.  The  owners  were  obdurate.  F^resident  Alessandri 
finally  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  the  question  has  probably  been 
settled  l)y  this  time. 


Brazil 

in  Brazil  labor  disturliances  have  not  lieen  as  general  as  in 
Argentina  and  Chile,  but  they  have  by  no  means  been  absent. 
The  most  violent  troubles  recently  occurred  in  the  State  of  S. 
Paulo  . A detailed  report  was  made  at  the  end  of  last  Septemlier  by 
Police  Delegate  Tyrso  Martins,  to  the  Secretary  of  Justice  and 
Public  Safety.  The  document  evidences  much  prejudice  against 
the  strikers,  but  contains  a continuous  account  of  those  long,  com- 
plicated disturbances.  The  document  gives  a resume  of  the  dis- 
turbances which  began  as  far  back  as  a year  ago  last  May.  The 
movement  was  originally  based,  the  I3elegate  states,  “upon  a 
genuine  labor  grievance,  and  sought  an  object  undoubtedly  rea- 
sonable,” but  gradually  losing  sight  of  its  worthy  object  degener- 
ated into  grave  disturbances  of  public  order.  lA-erything  seems 
to  have  begun  with  a strike  of  part  of  the  operatives  of  the  Crespi 
cotton  mill.  IMr  several  days  “the  strikers  maintained  order,  the 
police,  on  their  part,  complying  scrupulously  with  their  duty,"  pre- 
serving for  the  strikers  (gravistas)  their  right  to  hold  meetings, 
while  on  the  other  hand  they  guaranteed  the  property  of  the  own- 
ers and  the  right  of  the  non-striking  employees  to  go  on  working. 
But  soon,  instigated  “by  a group  of  conscienceless  anarchists”  the 
strikers  began  to  abandon  pacific  resistance,  to  interfere  violently 
with  the  workers  and  even  to  assail  the  police  when  attempts  were 
made  to  ])revent  street  conflicts  between  the  strikers  and  workers. 
Senhor  Alartins  reminds  the  Secretary  that  at  this  jioint  “your 
Excellency  spontaneously  ofifered  to  receive  the  strikers  and  the 
masters,  trying  to  reconcile  the  interests  of  both.”  TEit  efforts 
came  to  nothing.  “Against  the  simplest  preventive  acts  of  the 
police,  such  as  the  arrest  of  hysterical  persons,  the  operatives 
rushed  to  the  doors  of  the  police  headquarters,  and.  insulting  the 
authorities,  loudly  demanded  the  freedom  of  those  whom  they 
called  their  companions.” 


l.S 


On  a certain  day  the  crowd  shot  at  a sub-delegate  of  police;  a 
violent  scene  took  place,  and  in  the  fray  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
strikers,  who  had  recently  been  expelled  from  the  Argentine  for 
anarchistic  propaganda,  was  killed.  The  strikers  laid  his  death 
to  the  door  of  the  police  and  on  the  day  of  his  funeral  a great 
crowd  of  workmen,  m whose  midst  the  coffin  carried,  came  to 
lay  it  at  the  door  of  the  police  headquarters.  The  mob  that 
formed  soon  got  out  of  control,  began  to  sack  property,  “profes- 
sional agitators  inciting  the  workmen  to  ‘expropriation’.”  Ware- 
houses and  freight  cars  were  attacked  and  rioting  and  robbery 
became  the  order  of  the  day.  In  three  awful  days  it  was  reported 
that  nearly  a thousand  people  were  killed  by  machine  guns  of  the 
police.  The  Governor  of  the  state  then  undertook  to  ameliorate 
conditions  of  the  workers.  He  also  requested  the  S.  Paulo  repre- 
sentatives in  the  Federal  Congress  to  seek  the  passage  of  measures 
to  remedy  the  evils  affecting  the  laboring  classes.  An  increase  of 
wages  was  granted  and  strikers  returned  to  work.  But  the  spirit 
continued  ugly.  The  pretext  for  another  strike  was  found  when 
a workman  employed  in  a machinery  house  damaged  a valuable 
piece  of  mechanism  and  was  dismissed.  His  companions  struck 
and  labor  in  other  departments  was  forcibly  prevented.  The  com- 
pany tried  to  replace  the  striking  men  with  native-born  Brazilians, 
but  these  were  violently  prevented  from  working.  About  the 
same  time  a strike  began  in  an  embroidery  factory,  because  some 
of  the  employees  refused  to  join  the  union. 

This  “Centro”  secured  the  adhesion  of  1,400  workers  in  a weav- 
mill  of  Ypirango,  who,  as  one  of  their  demands,  requested  the 
abrogation  of  the  long-standing  regulation  that  no  one  must  smoke 
in  the  factory ! The  directors  naturally  refused  and  the  strikers 
destroyed  the  notice  exhibiting  the  rule  in  the  workshops.  Next 
the  “Centro”  tried  to  secure  their  principal  object,  the  adhesion  of 
the  employees  of  the  S.  Paulo  and  Sorocabana  railways.  When,  a 
little  later,  the  company  dismissed  half  a score  of  men,  a threat  of 
a strike  was  made  if  the  company  refused  to  take  back  the  dis- 
missed men.  The  officials  then  inquired  of  the  state  police  whether 
the  safety  of  the  railroad  property  could  be  guaranteed.  “From 
me  the  gentlemen  received  the  only  reply  which,  as  Delegate  of 
your  Excellency,  in  a state  whose  progress  is  the(  pride  of  Brazil,  I 
could  give : ‘The  government  of  the  State  of  S.  Paulo  is  prepared 
not  onlv  to  guarantee  property,  but  to  repress,  at  the  first  sign, 
any  attempt  to  disturb  public  order!’  ” 

Measures  were  at  once  taken  ; a contingent  of  Brazilian  marines 


16 


was  called  and  the  military  police  guarded  the  railroad  shops  and 
line.  The  railroad  company  then  announced  that  they  would  abide 
by  their  decision  of  dismissal. 

To  appreciate  the  difficult  situation  it  should  be  added  that  one- 
third  of  the  population  of  the  State  of  S.  Paulo  are  Italians, 
numbering  one  million ; that  there  are  small  colonies  of  at  least  a 
dozen  different  nationalities  besides  the  native  Brazilian  popula- 
tion, including  Russians,  Icelanders  and  Japanese ; and  that  the 
state  has  during  the  last  fifty  years  developed  with  extraordinary 
swiftness  not  only  in  her  agriculture,  but  also  manufacturing. 
With  a proportionally  vast  alien  po]xilation,  speaking  their  own 
tongues  and  publishing  newspapers  in  those  tongues,  S.  Paulo  has 
her  problems  in  the  midst  of  a wonderful  material  success.  A 
really  free  country,  conciliatory,  offering  a genuine  w'elcome  to 
newcomers,  Brazil  in  general  and  S.  Paulo  in  particular,  faces  the 
question  of  getting  the  Ijest  from  the  immigrant  without  antagon- 
izing or  coercing  him. 


L'kuguay 

Uruguay  has  had  her  share  of  labor  troubles  but  has  escaped 
some  of  the  violence  exjjerienced  by  her  sister  republic  across  the 
river,  because  she  has  adopted  liberal  economic  legislation.  Dur- 
ing the  past  several  years  she  has  made  manv  experiments  along 
the  lines  of  socialism.  She  even  passed  a law  providing  for  the 
payment  of  workmen  while  they  were  out  on  strike.  One  of  her 
most  recent  pieces  of  legislation  is  a workmen’s  accident  law, 
whose  liberal  provisions  I give  here  as  an  illustration  of  the  way 
that  Uruguay  is  leading  in  labor  legislation.  The  law  provides  that 
the  manager  of  an  industry  or  various  sorts  of  work  mentioned 
shall  be  held  responsible  for  all  accidents  to  workmen  when  on 
duty.  Workmen  suffering  from  accidents  during  work  have  the 
right  to  indemnity.  Workmen  under  the  present  law  shall  not 
have  further  rights  against  the  industrial  manager  than  those 
provided  by  this  law.  Workmen  who  receive  a salary  in  excess  of 
750  pesos  a year  may  not  obtain  an  indemnity  rated  upon  a greater 
salary  than  this  sum,  which  is  fixed  as  the  maximum  for  the  calcu- 
lation of  disability  pensions.  To  have  the  right  to  indemnification 
the  workman  must  have  been  incapacitated  for  work  for  more 
than  seven  days.  The  workman  shall  have  the  right  to  indemnifi- 
cation even  when  the  accident  occurred  due  to  his  carelessness  in 
greater  or  less  degree,  or  when  it  is  caused  by  chance  or  superior 


17 


force,  unless  these  be  outside  the  work  itself.  Beside  the  action 
against  the  manager,  the  victim  of  the  accident,  or  his  heirs,  has 
the  right  of  damages  against  other  persons  responsible  for  the 
accident.  The  indemnification  from  the  third  parties  relieves  the 
manager  of  his  obligation  for  an  equal  sum.  In  case  the  accident 
has  caused  the  death  or  permanent  disability  of  the  workman  the 
indemnity  will  be  paid  as  a pension.  All  contracts  for  work  which 
free  the  manager  from  responsibility  for  accidents  to  workmen 
are  null  and  void.  In  case  of  temporary  disability  the  workman 
will  be  entitled  to  half  the  salary  being  paid  him  at  the  time  of  the 
accident  (provided  that  his  incapacity  lasts  over  seven  days),  to 
count  from  the  eighth  day  after  the  accident.  When  the  disability 
lasts  over  30  days  the  indemnification  shall  be  paid  from  the  day 
of  the  accident.  In  the  case  of  permanent  disability  the  workman 
shall  have  the  right  to  a life  pension  and  in  the  case  of  death  to  an 
indemnification  fixed  in  proportion  to  his  salary. 


Par.vguay 

Paraguayan  labor,  as  far  as  it  is  connected  with  the  shipping 
and  packing  business  at  least,  bas  taken  its  cue  from  Argentina 
and  lias  therefore  been  quite  arbitrary  and  violent.  For  a year 
Asuncion  was  practically  without  passenger  steamship  service. 
( )ne  large  steamshi}),  which  was  about  to  be  operated,  in  defiance 
of  tbe  labor  union,  was  slipped  out  of  the  Asuncion  harbor,  right 
under  the  guns  of  the  government  gun  lioats  and  sunk.  The 
danger  run  by  the  “innocent  bystander"  when  one  of  the  frequent 
“labor  riots”  is  staged,  was  brought  home  to  the  writer  during  a 
recent  street  car  strike  in  Asuncion.  Walking  with  friends,  as  the 
only  means  of  getting  to  a dinner  party,  about  dusk  one  evening 
the  rapid  fire  of  something  less  than  a thousand  rifles  was  heard, 
seemingly  just  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall  behind  wdiich  we  took 
protection.  .After  five  minutes  the  firing  ceased  and  we  went  on 
to  our  friend’s  house.  Curiously  enough,  the  firing  had  appeared 
to  he  as  close  to  them  as  it  was  to  us  and  with  great  difficulty  they 
calmed  the  native  servants  sufficiently  for  them  to  serve  dinner. 
C)n  returning  later  to  the  American  School,  the  teachers  were  sure 
that  it  had  been  an  attack  on  the  school,  and  friends  at  a nearby 
hotel  were  equally  sure  that  it  was  in  the  front  patio.  We  learned 
finally  that  it  was  a case  of  a tramway  full  of  soldiers  who  were 
fired  on  by  strikers,  and  who,  dismounting,  had  chased  the  strikers, 


18 


firing  promiscuously  into  the  darkness  with  the  hopes  they  might 
hit  someone — presumably  a striker. 

The  host  of  the  dinner  party  that  evening,  the  manager  of  a 
twenty-million  dollar  North  American  packing  adventure  in  Para- 
guay, which  has  since  gone  into  bankruptcy,  told  us,  among  stories- 
of  other  labor  difficulties,  about  having  had  a beautiful  yacht,  built 
especially  for  the  manager’s  inspection  trips,  tied  up  since  the  first 
week  after  its  arrival  because  labor  which  knew  nothing  of  the 
machinery,  insisted  on  their  exclusive  right  to  run  the  boat. 


Ecuador 

Even  in  backward  Ecuador  a certain  theoretic  attention  to  indus- 
trial questions  seems  to  be  developing  here  and  there.  The  follow- 
ing quotations  from  an  address  by  a“sonof  the  soil.”l)efore  agroup 
of  intellectuals,  is  an  interesting  side-light  both  on  the  interests  of 
the  group  and  on  the  oratorical  ability,  not  seldom  found,  among 
the  less  favored  classes  of  Latin  America ; 

“Courteously  invited  by  the  ‘Sociedad  Artistica  e Industrial  del 
Pichincha’  to  deliver  this  lecture,  I was  inclined  to  excuse  myself, 
as  I might  have  done,  counseled  by  the  belief  that  I have  of  the 
deficiency  of  my  intellectual  and  oratorical  ability  but,  in  my 
anxiety  to  promote  honorably  the  betterment  of  my  country,  and 
above  all.  desiring  to  remove  baseless  prejudices  in  respect  of  what 
has  to  do  with  certain  conceptions  of  international  economics,  I 
did  not  hesitate  at  this  moment  of  great  universal  expectation,  to 
accept  the  invitation,  in  order  to  say  to  the  great  laboring  masses 
that  the  hour  has  arrived  for  thinking  seriously  regarding  the 
future  destiny  of  the  Ecuadorian  people. 

“If  you  consider  that  my  ideas  are  merely  the  result  of  a pro- 
found conviction  that  both  the  great  political  and  the  economic 
evolutions  are  usually  initiated  by  the  popular  mass,  it  being  from 
their  bosom  whence  spring  the  broad  movements  and  the  most 
transcendent  reforms.  I doubt  not  you  will  give  your  benevolent 
attention  to  the  words  of  a son  of  the  soil. 

“There  are  two  reasons  that  have  had  weight  in  impelling  me  to 
study  the  effects  of  commercial  interchange  between  the  L^nited 
States  and  Latin  America : first,  the  extraordinary  growth  which 
the  former  country’s  trade  has  achieved  during  the  last  four  years, 
thanks  to  the  gigantic  and  horrible  war,  and,  second,  the  prospect 


19 


that  is  to  be  presented  to  the  I lispano- American  repuldics  when 
the  immense  struggle  shall  have  been  ended,  by  whatever  means. 

“I  do  not  come  gentlemen,  to  make  apology  for  a great  people. 
A people  that  has  produced  liebrators  like  Washington,  economists 
like  Franklin,  poets  like  Longfellow,  statesmen  like  Jefferson  and 
Monroe,  needs  not  the  apology  that  can  be  made  for  it  by  the  most 
obscure  of  its  admirers.  Its  apology  is  its  history ; its  apology  is  in 
its  works;  its  apology  is  its  own  greatness.  I do  not  come,  more- 
over, to  excuse  it  for  the  mistakes  it  may  have  made  in  the  realm 
of  its  international  relations,  which  have  hindered  the  loyal  and 
sincere  approximation  of  the  Hispano-American  nations  to  con- 
stitute the  great  Pan  American  union  that  should  guarantee  the 
progress  and  sovereignty  of  all  the  Americas.  These  mistakes, 
however  hurtful  to  the  American  cause,  have  been  recognized  and 
chivalrously  repaired,  as  far  as  possible.” 

The  Pan  American  P'ederation  of  Laljor,  organized  some  three 
years  ago,  shows  the  endeavor  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  to  extend  its  help  to  the  workmen  of  Latin  America.  This 
pan  american  organization  has  now  held  three  important  confer- 
ences, two  in  the  United  States  and  one  in  Mexico.  Meeting  thus 
in  the  North  its  influence  has  been  limited  largely  to  the  North 
American  continent,  "khe  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  sent 
several  deputations  to  South  America,  but  I find  that  labor  leaders 
in  that  continent  are  not  very  closely  related  with  the  leaders  in 
the  United  States  or  Mexico.  Delegates  from  Peru  and  other 
South  American  countries  that  have  attended  some  of  these  Pan 
American  Conferences  have  not  been  very  representative  of  the 
labor  organizations.  The  organizations  in  the  less  progressive 
countries,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  are  not  yet  developed 
to  a point  where  they  can  appreciate  the  program  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  On  the  other  hand,  labor  leaders  in  Argen- 
tina have  no  patience  with  the  program  of  the  federation  in  the 
United  States,  regarding  it  as  entirely  too  conservative  and  accus- 
ing Mr.  Gompers  and  his  associates  of  being  the  tools  of  the 
capitalists. 

If  the  Pan  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  to  really  become  a 
force  in  South  America,  it  will  have  to  give  a great  deal  more  time 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  laboring  men  of  that  continent.  There 
is  undoubtedly  a large  field  for  the  American  Federation  in  help- 
ing the  workmen  of  less  advanced  countries  in  organizing  to  secure 
their  just  rights  and  in  providing  a program  for  labor  in  countries 


20 


like  Argentina,  that  will  be  much  less  radical  and  of  more  real 
benefit. 

In  this  brief  narrative,  no  effort  is  made  to  cover  the  entire  labor 
situation  of  South  America,  but  only  to  show,  by  a few  illustrations 
that  the  old  days  are  rapidly  passing  and  that  South  Americans 
and  their  friends  must  recognize  that  the  labor  question  is  destined 
to  be  for  some  time  one  of  the  continent’s  most  important  and 
pressing  problems. 


II. 

THE  FEMINIST  MOVEMENT 

Five  years  ajjo,  a gentleman  of  South  America  wrote  in  answer 
to  a query : “The  new  woman’s  movement  has  in  many  ways, 
Iiappily  enough,  not  touched  the  women  of  South  America.’’  He 
would  surely  not  make  such  a statement  today. 

The  first  cause  of  the  awakening  of  the  women  of  South  Am- 
erica is  found  in  the  growing  interest  in  the  outside  world,  which 
all  people  on  the  southern  continent  have  so  remarkably  developed 
in  the  last  few  years.  The  woman’s  movement  first  took  form  in 
a simple  coming  together  of  the  higher  class  women  for  charitable 
purposes  under  the  auspices  of  the  state  Church.  In  countries  like 
Argentina,  Uruguay  and  Chile,  where  the  woman's  movement  is 
the  strongest,  they  have  been  gradually  developing  independence 
from  the  Church  and  are  now  found  to  be  working  out  their  own 
problems.  These  are  more  largely  concerned  with  social  better- 
ment, cr)mmunity  service,  the  education  of  the  poor,  etc.,  than  they 
are  in  the  securing  of  the  vote  for  women,  although  the  latter  is 
the  principal  platform  in  the  organization  of  several  feminist 
societies.  Ur.  jonghi,  a well-known  woman  physician  of  Argen- 
tina and  a leader  in  the  feminist  movement,  thus  describes  the 
situation  of  women,  inherited  from  Spain: 

“Spain  has  left  her  seal  on  everything.  Her  religion,  her  lan- 
guage, her  customs,  her  social  beliefs,  are  found  in  all  lands  south 
of  the  Rio  Grande.  Women  have  lived  in  this  atmosphere  and 
conservative  spirit,  l)Ound  to  the  old  traditions  which  have  not  per- 
mitted some  of  the  South  American  countries  to  introduce  any  new 
ideas.  However,  the  desire  for  betterment  has  liroken  this  con- 
servative spirit  in  other  South  American  countries,  and  feminism 
as  a social  rebellion,  with  all  of  its  exaggerations,  desires  that  it 
have  a place  assigned  to  it  in  the  home,  in  the  university,  in  busi- 
ness and  in  the  professions,  sciences  and  politics.  The  South 
American  woman  is  a beautiful  type  of  consecrated  maternity,  but 
her  education  is  not  sufficient  to  prepare  her  as  a future  citizen. 
Her  devotion  to  her  children  is  admirable  and  worthy  of  all  praise, 
but  she  needs  an  education  which  will  enable  her  to  confront  the 
])roblems  of  life.  Eet  us  take  as  an  example  the  education  that 
women  receive  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  since  that  is  a country 


97 


which  is  working  toward  a new  life  and  an  interchange  of  intel- 
lectual ideas  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

“Education  is  obligatory  from  the  sixth  to  the  fourteenth  year, 
girls  taking  the  same  courses  as  boys.  After  that  age  the  girl  sel- 
dom attends  school.  Her  parents  are  contented  to  complete  her 
education  with  a few  courses  in  music,  painting,  elocution  and 
languages.  Courses  on  domestic  economy,  if  given,  are  short  and 
impractical.  She  enters  society  at  a very  early  age.  She  is  ab- 
sorbed by  light  conversation  and  an  ambition  to  make  a favorable 
impression,  and  is  sometimes  attracted  to  philanthropic  organiza- 
tions. generally  of  religious  origin,  and  is  surrounded  by  an  entirely 
artificial  atmosphere.  The  middle  class  of  girls  quite  often  con- 
tinue their  studies  by  attending  the  national  colleges,  commercial 
and  normal  high  schools,  etc.  The  majority  of  these  become 
teachers,  dedicating  themselves  most  completely  to  this  profession. 
Others,  with  greater  ambitions,  enter  the  universities,  and  with  a 
])erseverance  worthy  of  all  praise,  fight  through  their  courses  until 
they  have  become  Doctors  in  Philosoi)hy,  in  Letters,  in  Chemistry 
or  in  Pharmacy.  A number  of  such  women  become  physicians, 
attorneys  and  engineers.  These  are  not  natural  ambitions,  but  are 
based  on  the  desire  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  daily  life.  The  work- 
ing woman  ends  her  intellectual  education  in  the  primary  school. 
At  fourteen  she  is  initiated  into  the  factories  or  commercial  houses. 
The  Government  has  recently  established  night  schools  in  order 
to  help  them  continue  their  education. 

“Physical  education  is  by  no  means  satisfactory.  Sport  has 
become  popular  among  a small  circle  of  the  cultured  classes,  but 
women  of  the  middle  and  working  classes  have  only  enough  spare 
time  to  secure  the  needed  rest.  There  is  to  be  noted,  however,  an 
attempt  to  secure  playgrounds  and  parks,  and  some  commercial 
houses  are  making  worthy:  endeavors  to  awaken  among  the  women 
interest  in  sports.  There  are  beginning  to  appear  in  the  few  public 
playgrounds  some  of  the  braver  women.  Excursions  to  the  coun- 
try are  not  frequent.  The  Argentine  woman  lacks  the  liberty 
which  the  North  American  woman  enjoys.  She  must  have  her 
parents  or  some  member  of  the  family  always  with  her,  which 
naturally  is  a detriment  to  her  independent  development. 

“When  physical  education  is  deficient,  moral  education  needs 
special  attention.  The  restrictions  of  liberty,  an  exaggerated  pru- 
dence, the  strict  religious  morality,  the  ab.sence  of  friendship 
between  men  and  women,  the  excessive  vigilance  of  parents  in 


23 


every  detail  of  life,  unfit  the  girl  for  the  development  of  individual 
capacities  and  the  meeting  of  the  problems  of  life.  The  conse- 
quences of  this  education  are  easily  seen.  If  woman  is  to  be  com- 
panion to  man,  this  lack  of  equality  ought  to  be  eliminated.” 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  these  observations  on  education  apply 
to  the  advanced,  not  by  any  means  to  all  South  America.  The 
women  of  the  various  countries  are  so  different  in  their  social 
status  and  in  the  amount  of  freedom  they  are  allowed,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  generalize,  so  it  will  be  better  to  speak  of  the  situation 
in  each  of  the  countries  recently  visited  by  the  writer  of  these  lines. 


Peru 

Peru  is  one  of  the  most  conservative  countries  in  South  xA.merica. 
It  has  retained  more  of  the  Spanish  spirit  than  any  other  in 
America.  If  it  were  not  for  some  half  dozen  brave  women  of 
Peru,  one  might  say  that  there  is  no  feminist  movement  in  that 
country.  Fortunately,  there  are  these  brave  spirits  who  have  con- 
tributed greatly,  in  spite  of  persecution,  to  the  development  of  the 
Woman’s  Movement.  A decade  ago  no  one  ever  spoke  of  femin- 
ism in  Lima  except  to  poke  fun  at  the  English  suffragettes.  This 
the  press  did  quite  often.  In  1910  the  Feminist  Congress  met  in 
Buenos  Aires,  and  a young  woman  from  Peru,  'Miss  Maria  J. 
Alvarado  Rivera,  contributed  a paper  which  was  published  in  one 
of  the  Lima  dailies.  This  almost  caused  a scandal  among  the  more 
conservative  elements  in  the  community.  In  1912  Miss  Alvarado 
was  invited  to  deliver  a lecture  on  this  subject  before  the  Geo- 
graphical Society.  This  brought  to  her  aid  a number  of  the  most 
distinguished  liberals  of  the  city  and  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  a society  known  as  “Evolucion  Femenina.”  The  principles 
established  by  this  society  were  the  following ; 

(a)  An  ample  culture  which  will  enable  women  to  carry  out 

efficaciously  their  mission. 

(b)  Since  the  first  need  of  a state  is  to  develop  motherhood, 

domestic  sciences  should  constitute  the  basis  of  feminine 
education. 

(c)  The  dignifying  of  work  for  women. 

(d)  The  defense  of  her  rights. 

24 


(e)  Equality  of  man  and  woman  before  the  courts  and  in 

matrimony. 

(f)  Campaign  against  all  social  vices. 

(g)  Stimulating  the  performance  of  social  and  altruistic 

service. 

(h)  Adhesion  to  movements  for  peace  and  idealism. 

A remarkable  evidence  that  a new  day  is  dawning  for  Peruvian 
women  is  shown  in  the  recent  passing  of  a divorce  law  which  rec- 
ognizes a number  of  rights  which  must  be  granted  to  women. 
The  passing  of  this  law  was  made  a test  of  strength  hy  both  con- 
servatives and  liberals,  and  the  victory  of  the  latter  evidently 
means  that  in  the  next  few  years  the  women  will  be  called  upon 
to  take  a much  larger  part  in  determining  what  role  Peru  is  to 
play  in  the  modern  world. 


Chile 

The  most  compactly  organized  feminist  movement  in  South 
America  is  in  Chile.  There  are  three  large  organizations  which 
represent  three  different  classes  of  people — the  “Club  de  Sehoras” 
of  Santiago  represents  the  women  of  the  higher  classes ; the  “Con- 
sejo  Nacional  de  Mujeres”  represents  the  school  teacher  class. 
The  laboring  women  have  recently  organized  a very  active  society 
which  is  taking  part  in  the  bettering  of  their  own  conditions  and 
improvement  of  general  educational  and  social  conditions. 

While  Chile  has  been  very  conservative  socially  and  ecclesi- 
astically, yet  she  opened  her  educational  institutions  to  women 
nearly  fifty  years  ago.  When  Sarmiento  as  an  exile  was  living 
in  Santiago,  he  recommended  a liberal  treatment  of  women  and 
their  entrance  into  the  university.  This  latter  privilege  was  granted 
while  Miguel  Luis  Amugettui  was  Minister  of  Education.  In 
1859,  when  a former  Minister  of  Education  opened  a contest  for 
the  best  paper  on  popular  education,  Amugettui  received  the  prize. 
Among  the  things  which  he  advocated  in  that  pa{)er  was  the  per- 
mitting of  women  to  enter  the  university,  an  idea  which  he  had 
gotten  from  Sarmiento.  The  development  of  woman’s  education 
was  greatly  delayed  by  the  war  between  Chile,  Peru  and  Bolivia. 
President  Balmaceda  was  a great  friend  of  popular  education. 
Under  him  the  first  national  high  school  or  “liceo”  for  girls  was 
opened,  about  1890.  There  are  now  forty-nine  national  “liceos" 
for  girls,  all  directed  by  women.  Besides  this,  there  are  two  pro- 
fessional schools  for  girls  in  Santiago  and  one  in  each  province. 


25 


The  “Consejo  Nacional  de  Mujeres”  maintains  a home  for  girls 
attending  the  university  in  Santiago,  and  does  a good  deal  in  var- 
ious wavs  toward  helping  the  women  students  in  the  capital  city. 
There  are  nearly  a thousand  young  women  attending  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chile  at  the  jiresent  time.  A more  wide-awake  company 
of  students  will  not  be  found  in  any  of  the  world’s  capitals.  The 
President  of  the  “Consejo  Xacional”  is  Sra.  Labarca  Hubertson. 
She  and  her  husband  both  are  Directors  of  public  schools  in 
Santiago.  Sra.  Hubertson  w-as  sent  to  the  United  States  by  her 
Ciovernment  in  1914,  to  study  the  educational  system.  She  then 
became  very  much  interested  in  the  feminist  movement  here  and 
on  returning  home  was  called  to  direct  the  Woman’s  Reading 
Club  of  Santiago.  The  conservative  element  of  this  club,  not 
caring  to  engage  in  community  activities,  but  desiring  only  the 
intellectual  work  of  a woman's  club,  the  new  “Consejo  Nacional’' 
was  formed  by  the  more  progressive  women.  Sra.  Hubertson  has 
written  several  interesting  volumes — one  on  women’s  activities 
in  the  United  States  and  another  on  the  secondary  schools  of  the 
United  States.  She  is  accompanied  in  her  work  by  a fine  circle 
of  women,  most  of  whom  are  connected  with  the  educational  work 
in  Chile.  Several  women’s  ])erit)dicals  are  published  in  Chile,  one 
of  the  most  interest  being  “El  Penica,’’  directed  by'  Senorita  Elvira 
Santa  Cruz. 

In  an  address  recently  given  before  the  “Club  de  Senoras”  of 
Santiago,  the  well-known  Chilean  publisher,  Ricardo  Salas  Ed- 
wards stated  the  following : 

“There  have  been  manifested,  during  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
phenomena  of  importance  that  have  bettered  woman’s  general 
culture  and  the  development  of  her  independence.  Among  them 
were  the  spread  of  establishments  for  the  primary  and  secondary 
education  of  woman ; the  occujiations  themselves  that  she  has 
found  as  the  teacher  of  the  present  generations,  which  can  no 
longer  entertain  a doubt  of  her  intellectual  caj^acity ; the  establish- 
ment of  great  factories  and  selling  houses,  which  have  already 
given  her  lucrative  employment,  inde])endent  of  the  home;  the 
organization  of  societies  and  clubs;  and,  finallv,  artistic  and  liter- 
ary activities,  or  tbe  Catholic  social  action  of  the  highest  female 
classes,  which  has  been  developed  as  a stimulus  to  the  entire  sex 
during  recent  years. 

^ 

“Simultaneously  with  this  victorv  which  woman  has  achieved 


26 


outside  of  our  territory,  a natural  force  is  again  enlarging  the 
field  of  representative  government  in  Chile  by  increasing  more 
and  more  the  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  who  participate  in  the 
election  of  public  authorities,  and.  consequently,  in  determining 
the  policies  of  the  government.” 

An  illustration  of  the  way  Chilean  women  can  develop  when 
opportunity  is  given  is  found  in  the  case  of  Senorita  Mandujano. 
As  a student,  knowing  very  little  English,  she  came  to  New  York 
some  five  years  ago.  She  made  her  own  living  while  here  and  in 
a little  while  was  delivering  lectures  concerning  South  America 
before  women’s  clul)s.  After  three  years’  residence  in  this  country 
she  became  editor  of  a well-known  magazine  published  in  English. 
She  has  now  returned  to  Chile  and  is  giving  her  best  to  the  educa- 
tion of  girls  and  the  develoi)ment  of  the  feminist  movement. 

The  women  of  Chile  are  doing  all  kind  of  w'ork  to  help  improve 
the  social  conditions  of  women  and  children.  In  the  address  of 
Sr.  Edwards,  previously  referred  to,  he  makes  the  following 
appeal,  which  is  really  a description  of  what  the  women  of  (^'hile 
are  now  doing  in  their  varimis  organizations: 

“Who  are  better  acquainted  than  you  with  the  miserable  habita- 
tions of  the  majority  of  the  laboring  people  ; who  know  better  than 
you  that  the  .scarcity  of  food  and  the  slight  desire  to  constitute 
a family,  with  the  aid  of  tul)erculosis  and  the  social  evil,  are  at- 
tacking the  traditional  vigor  of  the  working  classes;  that  alcohol 
and  gambling  wrest  from  the  hands  of  innumerable  laborers  their 
children’s  bread  ; and  that,  as  a consequence  of  all  this,  the  number 
of  tho.se  whom  natural  evolution  ought  to  select  as  the  best  fitted 
to  rise  from  the  class  is  very  limited  ; while  it  should  be  the  current 
to  replenish  the  higher  classes,  as  in  the  great  democracies,  this 
being  a phenomenon  which  in  itself  reveals  the  gravitv  of  our 
social  ills  ? 

“How,  without  the  co-o]wration  of  the  public  authorities,  can 
we  foster  the  rapid  improvement  of  dwellings  and  the  general 
health,  and  how  can  we  honestly  apply  the  existing  restrictions 
upon  alcohol,  which  our  mayors  do  not  enforce,  if  there  be  not 
felt  in  our  municipalities,  as  in  other  countries,  the  direct  action  of 
the  woman  citizen  who  keeps  guard  over  the  family  and  the  race ; 
and  how  shall  we  succeed  in  securing,  without  decided  political 
activity,  the  just  regulation  of  labor  and  the  establishment  of  a 
system  for  the  participation  of  the  working  man  in  the  benefits 


27 


of  industry,  which  is  the  true  and  only  solution  of  this  artificial 
antagonism  of  interests? 

“The  hour  for  doing  something  presses,  although  the  political 
leaders  of  the  present  day  are  not  aware  of  its  passing.  You,  who 
feel  and  com])rehend  the  sufferings  of  this  people,  are  the  ones 
who  can  Ijest  contribute  to  this  undertaking,  before  the  Chilean 
masses  give  themselves  up  in  desperation  to  the  agitators,  and 
before  the  industrials,  beaten  by  exorbitant  demands,  close  their 
work-shops. 

“If  your  activity  can  be  useful  in  contributing  to  internal  social 
])eace,  you  are  also  well  aware  that  the  great  thinker.  President 
Wilson,  has  sought  to  found  upon  the  sentiments  of  women  the 
future  international  tranquillity,  and  that,  in  order  to  remove  the 
threatening  dangers  of  a new  armed  peace,  he  solicited,  in  the 
conferences  at  Versailles,  the  universal  recognition  of  the  right 
of  woman  to  vote. 

“In  the  dead  Argentine-Chilean  question,  the  attitude  of  the 
women  of  the  two  countries  was  a noble  summons  to  harmony, 
which  it  was  impossible  to  neglect  and  w'hich  caused  things  to  be 
viewed  with  calmness. 

“It  may  be  that  in  the  old  question  of  the  Pacific,  which  is  now 
a stumlding-block  in  the  way  of  the  progress  and  confederation 
of  America,  there  mav  fall  to  vou,  with  greater  right,  a similar 
role.” 

Argentin.v 

The  feminist  movement  of  Argentina  is  more  complicated  and 
varied  than  in  any  other  South  American  country.  P)uenos  Aires 
is  such  a large  city  and  there  are  so  many  different  national  and 
social  elements,  that  movements  cannot  be  analyzed  here  in  the 
simple  w'ay  that  they  can  be  for  other  South  American  centers. 

The  Socialist  Party  has  had  considerable  strength  in  Buenos 
Aires  for  a number  of  years.  During  the  last  three  or  four  years 
the  Soviet  movement  has  developed  rapidly,  and  there  are  now 
some  280,000  paid  members  in  the  Soviet  movement  among  the 
laboring  classes.  Many  of  these  are  women,  and  they  are  taking 
a very  active  part  in  the  propagation  of  all  Socialist  doctrines, 
often  going  to  the  extremes  of  Bolshevism. 

The  “Consejo  Nacional  de  klujeres”  is  one  of  the  most  dignified 
and  progressive  of  the  women’s  organizations.  It  makes  a careful 
study  of  women’s  movements  in  different  parts  of  the  world  and 
invites  distinguished  lecturers  to  appear  before  it.  One  of  the 


28 


most  important  lectures  delivered  before  this  body  recently  is 
that  by  Dr.  Ernesto  Quesada,  the  distinguished  Argentine  sociolo- 
gist. Those  wishing  a careful  and  conservative  though  sympathetic 
presentation  of  the  feminist  movement  in  Argentina  would  do  well 
to  read  this  lecture.  Dr.  Quesada  advises  the  women  of  Argen- 
tina to  work  first  on  an  educational  program  and  after  they  have 
attained  equality  before  the  law,  then  to  take  up  the  matter  of 
political  equality. 

One  of  the  most  active  of  all  Argentine  women's  organizations 
is  the  “Club  de  Aladres”  of  Buenos  Aires.  They  recently  held  their 
fourth  annual  “Baby  Week”  in  Buenos  Aires.  They  had  the  co- 
operation of  the  best  people  of  the  city,  including  merchants, 
physicians  and  government  officials.  A large  building  in  the  heart 
of  the  city  was  placed  at  their  disposal  for  their  most  recent  ex- 
hibit. They  had  worked  out  all  kinds  of  charts,  showing  the  death 
rate  of  babies,  the  proper  way  for  nourishment  and  taking  care 
of  the  child,  and  gave  out  all  kinds  of  information  along  these 
lines  to  the  visitors,  interesting  them  in  carrying  out  the  purposes 
of  this  organization.  One  of  the  charts  showed  that  more  babies 
under  two  years  of  age  died  in  1914  in  Buenos  Aires  than  there 
were  persons  between  the  ages  of  two  and  thirty.  They  an- 
nounced the  movement  as  a campaign  of  education — not  an  ex- 
hibit for  charity,  inasmuch  as  in  Argentina  out  of  every  eight 
children  who  are  born,  one  does  not  live  to  be  two  years  of  age, 
or,  in  other  words,  since  4.3,800  children  less  than  two  years  of 
age  died  every  year,  they  proposed  to  greatly  reduce  this  death 
rate.  The  competent  president  of  this  organization,  known  in  all 
parts  of  Argentina  for  her  interest  in  social  development,  is 
Doctora  Ernestina  de  Xelson,  the  wife  of  Professor  Ernesto  Nel- 
son, who  is  well-known  to  North  American  educationalists. 

Buenos  Aires  has  been,  with  Rio  de  Janeiro,  one  of  the  worst 
centers  for  white  slave  trade.  Probably  for  that  reason  the  best 
women  of  the  city  have  become  particularly  interested  in  the  move- 
ment of  a white  life  for  two.  A distinguished  Anglo-Argentine 
' lady,  Senora  Blanca  C.  de  Hume,  has  made  important  contri- 
1 butions  by  her  writings  toward  the  solution  of  this  problem. 

As  early  as  1912,  we  find  that  some  of  the  far-seeing  women 
; of  Buenos  Aires  were  making  scientific  studies  of  the  condition 
I of  women  workers.  Senorita  Carolina  Aluzilli  published  such  an 
j investigation  for  an  Exposition  on  Social  Service  in  Gante,  Bel- 
I gium.  Her  work  was  highly  commended  by  the  government 


29 


officials  of  her  city.  This  most  interesting  survey  shows  that  even 
inl913  there  was  a large  number  of  women  working  in  shoe 
factories,  garment  factories  and  many  other  kinds  of  small  fac- 
tories in  Argentina.  As  far  as  statistics  were  available,  there 
were  shown  to  be  at  that  time  205,851  women  wage-earners  in 
factories  and  commercial  houses  of  Buenos  Aires.  Women  were 
terribly  underpaid,  had  to  work  long  hours  with  no  privileges 
whatever,  and  were  always  receiving  less  wages  than  men.  When 
Miss  Muzilli  began  her  investigations  she  found  prejudice  was  so 
great  that  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  data  until  she  had  gotten 
work  in,  one  of  the  factories.  For  several  months  she  persevered, 
until  she  got  the  data  for  this  remarkable  survey  of  the  conditions 
of  women,  one  of  the  very  few  scientitic  studies  of  industrial 
conditions  ever  made  in  Latin  America. 

Argentine  law  establishes  a difference  between  the  sexes  to  the 
disadvantage  of  women.  The  law  excludes  her  from  the  manage- 
ment of  family  property,  which,  without  condition,  must  be  given  ; 
into  the  hands  of  the  husband.  If  the  husband  wastes  the  common  i 
property,  the  wife  may  solicit  separation  of  their  properties,  if  i 
she  has  not,  as  is  usually  the  custom  on  being  married,  assigned  i 
to  her  husband  all  property  rights.  The  woman  participates  in 
the  increase  in  value  of  the  family  property,  but  where  there  is  . 
a separation  of  this  property  she  receives  her  personal  property  i 
again  and  half  of  the  increase.  Laws  grant  divorce,  which  sig-  | 
nifies  only  the  sejiaration  of  man  and  wife,  but  incapacitates  them 
for  marrying  again. 

The  following  are  the  demands  of  the  “Woman’s  Rights  Asso-  i' 
ciation  of  Buenos  Aires”; 

1.  The  repeal  of  all  laws  which  establish  a ditference  between 

the  tw'O  sexes  and  against  woman,  in  order  that  the  latter 
be  no  longer  the  weakling  which  she  is  today,  before  the 
law. 

2.  The  right  of  women  to  hold  public  office  and  especially  to  be 

members  of  the  National  and  Regional  Councils  on  Edu- 
cation. 

vL  The  establishment  of  special  courts  for  children  and 
women. 

4.  The  passing  of  laws  for  the  protection  of  maternity  and 
for  making  legitimate  all  the  children  that  are  born. 


30 


5.  The  abolition  of  all  legal  prostitution  and  the  establishment 

of  the  white  life  for  both. 

6.  An  equality  of  wages. 

7.  Equal  political  rights. 

The  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  which  has  been 
organized  in  Buenos  Aires  for  a number  of  years,  has  done 
much  toward  awaking  women  to  new  interests  in  life.  While 
suffering  from  small  quarters,  they  have  gathered  round  them 
a number  of  the  prominent  women  of  Argentina,  wdro  are  helping 
them  in  the  conducting  of  night  classes,  gymnasium,  cafeteria 
and  other  services  for  girls  working  in  stores  and  offices,  and  in 
studving  the  general  means  of  improving  the  womanhood  of  that 
progressive  country.  The  "National  League  of  Evangelical  Women” 
has  recently  become  such  a live  organization  that  the  daily  press 
gives  attention  to  its  program. 

Among  the  many  activities  which  engage  the  attention  of  the 
women  of  Buenos  Aires  is  that  of  temperance.  This  has  come 
to  he  such  an  imjwrtant  work  that  they  are  now  planning,  with 
the  aid  of  some  North  American  societies,  to  erect  a temperance 
building  in  Buenos  Aires  which  shall  house  the  various  activities 
along  these  lines. 

One  can.  therefore,  look  forward  with  confidence  to  the  devel- 
opment of  woman’s  work  for  woman  in  the  great  city  of  P>uenos 
Aires.  The  Argentine  women  have  always  shown  themselves  to 
be  full  of  ideas.  It  was  a woman  who  suggested  in  the  first 
place  that  the  peace  pact  between  Chile  and  Argentina  be  cele- 
brated by  the  erection  of  a statue  of  Christ  on  the  boundary  line 
between  the  two  countries ; thus  the  wonderful  statue  of  “The 
Christ  of  the  Andes,”  made  out  of  the  very  cannon  which  were  to 
have  been  used  by  these  countries  in  destroying  one  another,  now 
stands  in  its  impressive  isolation  on  the  lofty  Andes  Mountain 
as  one  of  the  most  impressive  monuments  in  the  world. 

Lest  the  picture  be  left  too  roseate,  however,  the  following 
quotation  is  here  given  from  a thoughtful  article  recently  appear- 
ing in  “The  River  Plate  Observer,”  an  English  paper  of  Buenos 
Aires : 

“One  of  the  signs  of  the  times  in  Buenos  Aires  is  most  certainly 
the  spread  of  Eeminism  among  Argentine  women.  It  has  planted 
its  standard,  which  one  feels  convinced  will  never  be  hauled  down, 
but  its  adherents  are  still  few  and  far  between,  with  the  great 


31 


mass  of  the  women,  gentle  and  simple,  indifferent  or  hostile  to 
their  would  he  redeemers.  One  felt  this  very  conclusively  at  the 
meeting  wherein  Dra.  Lanteri  de  Renshaw  enunciated  her  par- 
liamentary programme.  That  her  election  would  be  of  marked 
benefit  to  the  state  and  forward  the  cause  of  social  reform  is  on 
the  other  hand  (juite  indisputable.  Read  the  statistics  of  infant 
mortality  in  the  up-country  provinces  of  Argentina,  study  some 
of  the  customs  of  the  jieasants  even  in  the  Queen  Province  of 
P>uenos  Aires,  go  into  the  question  of  social  assistance  and  pro- 
tection for  the  poor  in  the  Federal  Capital,  and  then,  with  the 
picture  vividly  before  your  eyes,  ask  yourself  whether  a qualified 
woman  doctor  able  and  willing  to  touch  unpleasant  themes  with 
her  gloves  off,  not  for  political  ends  hut  in  order  that  they  may  be 
reformed  out  of  existence,  cannot  be  of  use  to  the  Republic. 

“Unfortunately  few  foreigners  realize  how  unwarranted  is  the 
description  of  “civilized”  as  applied  to  things  Argentine  outside 
the  immediate  pale  of  the  ujiper  strata  of  city  life.  Illiteracy  and 
witchcraft,  two  complementary  crimes,  are  not  small  stigma  to 
apply  to  a country  that  ^irides  itself  on  its  modernity.  Vet  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  population  of  .Argentina  comes  under  the  first 
head,  while  only  the  other  day  a “witch"  was  scarified  with  knives 
in  Santiago  del  Ifstero  in  order  that  a jilastcr  of  the  blood  might 
cure  a victim  of  her  sorceries! 

“Infant  protection  and  due  regard  to  the  l)are  ])rerogatives  of  the 
female  sex  are  two  of  .Argentina’s  most  crying  needs  today,  the 
tw'entieth  centurv  notwithstanding.  .\nfl  seeing  tliat  th':*  present 
deputies,  who  are  masculine,  have  never  yet  found  time  or  oppor- 
tunity to  tackle  the  obvious  .social  prol)lems  that  lie  before  their 
eyes  despite  the  fact  that  many  of  them  are  medical  men  and  hail 
from  the  ju'ovinces — a woman,  acting  under  strong  convictions 
and  able  to  coinince  peo])le  of  her  sincerity,  ma}  have  better 
ft)rtune. 

“Dr.  Julieta  Lanteri  de  Renshaw  ofl'ers  a ]irogramme  that 
should  ap])cal  not  onh'  to  tlie  members  of  her  sex,  but  that  demands 
the  support  of  every  per.son  of  commonsen.se  who  has  studied,  ever 
so  superficially,  the  ])re.sent  needs  of  .Argentina.  Ah’thout  a .sound 
system  of  morality  Argentina  can  never  l)ecome  a truly  great 
nation,  and  one  is  almost  inclined  to  go  so  far  as  to  ]iredict  that 
until  the  women  of  Argentina  have  a share  in  the  making  and  the 
e.xecuting  of  their  country’s  laws  that  desirable  soundness  will  be 


52 


still  to  seek.  Must  one  explain  that  “morality”  is  here  written  in 
its  widest  sense,  the  greater  including  the  less  ? 

“The  road  before  the  Argentine  feminists  is  not  an  easy  one 
to  travel ; as  was  said  by  another  great  Reformer  some  2,000  years 
ago,  their  foes  will  be  of  their  own  households.  Yet  sooner  or 
later  the  triumph  will  be  theirs.” 

Uruguay 

Uruguay  is  probably  the  most  liberal  of  all  the  South  American 
countries,  most  willing  to  try  new  ideas.  It  is,  therefore,  not 
surprising  to  find  a very  large  circle  of  women  in  Montevido  who 
are  active  in  all  kind  of  movements  for  the  betterment  of  their 
people.  Uruguay  is  the  only  country  in  South  .\merica  that  has 
a woman’s  university.  One  of  the  best  woman’s  magazines  has 
long  been  published  there.  The  headquarters  of  the  “Continental 
Temperance  Society,”  which  was  organized  by  Urguayan  women, 
is  located  in  Montevideo.  It  would  not  be  surprising  to  see  this  pro- 
gressive little  country  become  the  first  of  South  America  to  grant 
votes  to  women.  President  Baltazar  Brum,  himself  a young  pro- 
gressive of  a marked  character,  in  discussing  this  question,  recently 
said : 

“With  very  little  understanding  of  the  matter,  it  has  been 
affirmed  that  the  triumph  of  feminism  will  destroy  the  funda- 
mental morality  of  the  family  and  of  society.  To  contradict  such 
an  assertion  it  is  only  necessary  to  remember  that  this  has  not 
happened  in  any  of  the  countries  which  have  decided  in  favor 
of  the  political  equality  of  both  sexes.  Women  vote  in  England, 
Germany,  Denmark,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Australia,  the  United 
States,  Canada,  etc.,  without  having  originated  the  calamities 
announced  by  the  pessimist.  In  regard  to  this  matter  it  would  Ire 
well  to  study  the  situation  of  women  in  Catholic  societies  and  in 
Protestant  societies.  In  the  latter  women  are  surrounded  with 
the  greatest  respect  and  consideration.  They  participate  activelv, 
on  an  equality  with  men,  in  all  subjects  of  general  interest.  Their 
homes  lose  nothing  in  the  matter  of  comfort,  morality  and  whole- 
some joy  in  comparison  with  Catholic  homes,  and  their  children 
are  cared  for  with  no  less  love  and  solicitude  and  certainlv  with 
more  provision  than  Catholic  children.  The  political  activities 
of  the  Protestant  women  have  not  therefore  broken  the  funda- 
mental morality  of  society  nor  have  they  distur):)cd  the  happiness 
of  the  family. 


33 


“The  Catholic  woman,  on  the  contrary,  is  placed  on  a plane 
of  evident  inferiority  in  her  relationship  to  men.  The  laws  which 
men  in  these  countries  dictate  are  full  of  irritating  injustice,  giving 
the  man  a specially  privileged  place.  The  woman  only  occupies 
herself  with  the  home  and  social  activities.  She  is  kept  in  com- 
plete indifference  and  isolation  in  regard  to  questions  of  general 
interest.  She  is  about  the  same  as  a piece  of  furniture  in  the 
house,  ornamental  furniture  in  some  cases  and  in  others  simply 
a matter  of  utility,  instead  of  being  a person  of  clear  thought  and 
of  disciplined  will.  And  it  is  natural  that  exactly  these  same 
societies,  where  the  erroneous  conceptions  and  prejudices  against 
feminine  dignity  prevail,  are  the  very  ones  which  resist  most 
strongly  the  recognition  of  woman’s  political  rights.’’ 

Brazil 

The  remarkalile  development  of  the  desire  among  the  women 
of  Brazil  to  get  away  from  their  old  restrictions  and  to  he  of  real 
service  to  their  country,  may  be  seen  in  the  development  of  the 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  was 
established  in  In  the  celebration  of  its  first  anniversary 

a few  weeks  ago.  it  was  able  to  report  1,200  members.  The  press 
of  Brazil  often  carries  important  articles  concerning  women. 
Recently  a hill  was  proposed  in  the  National  Senate,  to  give 
women  the  vote.  In  a recent  number  of  the  “Journal  do  Com- 
mercio,’’  the  most  important  daily  in  Brazil,  an  article  covering 
a page  was  given  over  to  an  argument  for  women’s  rights.  As 
is  there  said,  “Only  one  little  Latin  American  country,  Costa  Rica 
in  Central  America,  has  given  the  vote  to  women.  In  no  South 
American  country  has  she  gained  this  right.  Brazil  ought  to 
lead  in  doing  this  thing  which  most  of  the  progressive  countries 
of  the  world  have  already  done.” 

Dr.  Ruv  Barbosa,  recently  elected  a judge  of  the  World  Court 
of  the  League  of  Nations,  referred  as  follow'S  to  the  need  of 
Brazilian  women  enlarging  their  sphere  : 

“The  world  moves  toward  other  laws,  toward  other  goals, 
toward  a future  of  illimitable  extent.  Crowns  have  disappeared, 
democracy  seems  to  he  extending  its  vast  dominion  over  the  whole 
world.  All  human  relations  are  changed,  transformed,  recast, 
even  those  between  the  sexes.  The  older  conditions  of  life  are 
being  swept  away  in  a revolution  that  may  have  incalculable  re- 
sults. 

“Women  assumes  now  in  the  destiny  of  the  human  race  a part 

34 


that  will  place  upon  her  burdens  and  opportunities  not  experienced 
hitherto.  In  the  British  electorate,  if  I mistake  not,  there  are  six 
million  women  voters.  A revolution,  one  of  the  greatest  revolu- 
tions of  the  world,  has  taken  place  legally,  peacefully,  by  an  act 
of  the  parliament,  without  any  one’s  further  concerning  himself 
over  the  incalculable  change  that  has  occurred  in  the  policy  of  one 
of  the  greatest  nations  of  Europe.  Will  it  be  possible  for  Brazil, 
in  the  midst  of  all  these  revolutions  and  upheavals,  not  to  suffer 
its  meed  of  change  in  the  character  of  its  politics,  its  institutions, 
the  procedures  of  its  statesmen? 

“No,  gentlemen;  we  must  he  taught  by  these  events,  and  we 
ought  to  realize  that  our  republic  must  accommodate  herself  to 
the  new  modes  of  thought,  that  our  government  must  set  its 
people  a different  example  from  the  wonted  one,  or  days  perhaps 
tempestuous  will  be  in  store  for  us.’’ 

( )ne  or  the  most  remarkable  demonstrations  of  the  change  in 
attitude  in  South  America  toward  women  was  the  recent  visit  of 
the  president  of  the  Women’s  Christian  Tem|)erance  Union  of 
North  America,  Miss  Anna  Gordon.  Miss  Gordon  was  received 
not  only  Iiy  the  most  distinguished  women  in  each  of  the  countries, 
but  by  the  highest  government  officials,  including  the  Presidents 
of  practically  all  the  countries  she  visited.  In  Peru  she  was  given 
a reception  in  the  famous  University  of  San  Marcos,  the  oldest  * 
university  on  the  American  continent,  and  until  recently  one  of 
the  most  conservative.  In  Chile  she  was  also  received  in  the 
“Salon  de  Honor”  of  the  University,  was  invited  to  the  homes  of 
the  best  families,  received  by  the  President  of  the  Repuldic  and 
given  every  honor  that  a distinguished  visitor  could  be  given.  In 
Buenos  Aires  the  principal  women  of  the  city  gave  her  a reception 
at  the  Plaza  Hotel,  where  the  unusual  thing  occurred  of  the  Bishop 
of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  appearing  on  the  same  platform  to  advocate  temperance. 

A great  meeting  was  held  in  the  Colon  Theatre,  probably  the  most 
beautiful  theatre  in  the  world,  where  every  nation  of  the  world 
was  represented  in  tableaux  advocating  the  cause  of  temperance. 

In  Montevideo  and  Rio  de  Janeiro  the  same  honors  were  shown 
this  modest  little  woman.  Be  it  said  to  her  credit  that  she  every- 
where made  it  clear  that  she  was  onlv  there  to  show  the  svmnathy 
of  North  American  women  for  South  American  women,  and  their 
desire  to  be  of  any  help  to  their  Southern  sisters,  but  in  no  way 
to  dictate  policies  or  programs. 


35 


in. 

TUE  TEMPERANCE  MOVEMENT 

“Alcohol  is  a poison.  It  must  be  destroyed,’’  were  the  words 
written  on  a large  banner,  stretched  across  the  street,  in  the  first 
town  I visited  in  Chile.  Passing  along  the  streets  to  a beautiful 
park  on  the  seashore,  I sat  down  to  enjoy  the  view  and  found 
written  on  the  very  bench  on  which  I was  sitting,  “Alcohol  is  a 
poison.  It  must  he  destroyed.’’  This  is  only  one  of  the  evidences 
of  the  strong  temperance  campaign  carried  on  not  by  foreign 
agitators  but  by  the  Chileans,  not  by  the  intellectuals  and  the 
theorists  but  by  the  labor  unions.  W’orkmen  have  come  to  realize 
that  along  with  other  influences  that  aid  in  their  exploitation,  the 
liquor  business  is  a very  powerful  one.  Many  of  the  rich  families 
and  the  clergy  own  large  vineyards  and  the  industrial  situation 
is  shaped  so  that  the  products  of  these  vineyards  and  of  the  brew- 
eries must  l)e  sold.  Here  is  a case  where  the  production  creates 
the  demand  and  not  demand  the  production.  The  total  production 
of  intoxicants  annually  in  Chile  is  estimated  at  600,000,000  litres, 
and  there  are  said  to  be  26,000  producers  of  wine.  The  capital 
invested  in  alcoholic  liquors  is  reported  as  270,000,000  pesos. 

Chile  has  often  been  pointed  out  as  one  of  the  worst  countries 
in  the  world  for  alcoholic  drink.  The  Araucanian  Indians  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  country  were  the  strongest  of  all  the  native 
races  of  South  America.  The  Chileans  were  never  able'  to  conquer 
them  by  arms.  During  recent  years,  however,  there  is  reported 
to  have  been  a systematic  effort  to  conquer  them  by  alcohol  and 
certainly  they  have  become  a very  weak  people.  An  awakening 
to  the  great  loss  of  character  among  these  Indians  because  of 
strong  drink  has  resulted  in  a petition  from  the  residents  in  the 
district.  It  is  for  a greater  enforcement  of  the  existing  laws 
which  prevent  the  sale  of  alcohol  on  Sundays  and  feast  days  and 
for  new  laws  which  will  gradually  eliminate  entirely  the  selling 
of  liquor  to  the  Indians. 

A few  years  ago  it  would  have  seemed  quite  ridiculous  to  speak 
of  total  abstinence  in  Chile,  but  some  few  brave  spirits,  under 
the  leadership  of  Dr.  Carlos  Fernandez  Pena,  one  of  the  finest 
spirits  in  all  America,  and  one  of  the  strongest  fighters  against 
social  evil,  began  the  temperance  campaign.  Vigorous  societies 


36 


have  I)een  developed  in  the  cities  of  Valparaiso  and  Santiago. 
The  “National  League  Against  Alcohol”  now  represents  a very 
forceful  combination  of  men  and  women  who  have  iniluence  in 
the  country.  At  their  last  national  convention  they  proposed  the 
introduction  of  text-books  teaching  the  effects  of  alcohol,  in  the 
primary  aiid  high  schools.  As  already  indicated,  however,  the 
labor  movement  has  recently  arisen  as  the  most  influential  advo- 
cate of  temperance.  They  have  been  encouraged  in  their  wmrk 
bv  President  Alessandri.  One  of  his  first  official  acts  on  assuming 
office  last  December  was  to  receive  a petition  from  the  Chilean 
Federation  of  Labor  protesting  against  the  alleged  attempts  of 
the  League  for  the  Defense  of  the  Wine  Industry  to  force  north- 
ern pf)rt  workers  to  unload  li(|Uor.s.  The  labor  organization  already 
had  adopted  a resolution,  effective  January  1,  to  retiu^e  to  unload 
liquors,  whether  of  home  or  foreign  manufacture.  This  ])etition, 
urges  the  government  to  co-operate  with  the  Commission  on  Con- 
trol of  Alcohol,  in  order  that  the  commission  might  realize  its 
program  based  on  education  and  ultimate  transformation  “of  the 
wine  industry,  breweries  and  distilleries  into  great  factors  of 
public  welfare."  The  federation  represents  .^00,000  workers  it 
is  said.  The  petition  vigorously  assails  alcoholism  and  declares 
that  the  Executive  Labor  Board  was  instructed  to  initiate  a cam- 
paign against  it  throughout  the  republic.  The  wine  growers  are 
naturallv  organizing  in  defense  of  their  interests. 

The  jjrotest  of  the  workmen  against  the  handling  of  alcohol 
has  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  republic.  The  watchword  of 
Dr.  Pena  is  “Alcohol  is  a poison ; taken  in  large  or  small  quantities, 
it  is  a poison.”  The  owners  of  the  vineyards  are  opposed  to 
Dr.  Pena.  A cabinet  minister  recently  issued  a decree  prohib- 
iting the  drinking  of  alcoholic  beverages  in  properties  owned 
by  the  state  and  announced  that  he  would  prohibit  the  ]dant- 
ing  of  vineyards.  This  prohibition  includes  the  nitrate  dis- 
trict where  there  are  a hundred  thousand  workmen  who  live 
in  a desert,  earn  the  best  wages  and  consume  a large  part  of  the 
products  of  the  vineyards.  Some  therefore  consider  that  the 
order  is  a blow  to  the  economic  progress  of  the  country.  But 
the  recent  election  of  Sr.  Alessandri  as  President  shows  that  many 
believe  in  the  suppression  of  the  traffic  in  alcohol. 

Soon  after  the  President  was  elected  he  made  a trip  to  the 
nitrate  regions.  At  the  banquets  that  were  given  for  him  he 
ordered  that  no  alcoholic  beverages  should  be  served.  This  is  the 


37 


first  time  that  such  a thing  has  happened  in  the  history  of  the 
republic.  The  President  is  working  to  solve  the  economic  side 
of  this  problem  in  a way  to  benefit  the  country.  As  Dr.  Pena  says, 
“We  have  been  able  to  create  in  our  country  the  most  famous 
vineyards  in  the  new  world.  We  have  developed  the  best  experts. 
We  have  the  Ijest  grapes  and  the  best  wines.  The  .same  enter- 
imise  will  cause  us  to  find  the  best  way  to  use  the  products  of  our 
vine)-ards  for  the  progress  and  not  for  the  destruction  of  our 
people.”  The  Chilean  government  not  long  ago  sent  experts  to 
the  United  States  to  study  the  question  of  the  use  of  grapes  for 
grape  juice  and  other  non-intoxicating  drinks. 

Uruguay  is  another  South  American  country  where  a very 
strong  prohibition  movement  has  been  developed  for  the  last  five 
years.  The  movement  is  so  conscious  of  its  strength  that  it  has 
recently  launched  the  battle-cry,  “Uruguay  dry  by  1925,  the  Cen- 
tenar}-  of  our  independence.”  There  are  those  who  laugh  at  such 
a cry,  as  there  were  those  in  the  United  States  who  laughed  at 
the  slogan,  “A  saloonless  nation  by  1920.”  There  is  no  question 
that  this  temperance  movement  in  Uruguay  counts  some  of  the 
most  influential  people  of  the  country  as  its  members.  The 
“National  League  Against  .\lcohol”  has  held  several  annual  con- 
ventions and  is  now  plannitig  a temperance  convention  for  all 
of  South  America.  The  South  American  secretary  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Lhiion  had  her  headquarters  for 
four  years  in  Motevideo  and  made  her  influence  very  strongly 
felt.  .She  has  recently  moved  to  Buenos  Aires  where  an  equally 
strong  movement  is  now  developing.  The  South  American  secre- 
taries of  the  World  Sunday  School  Association  and  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Co-operation  in  Latin  America  have  also  been  called 
to  aid  in  this  movement  which  is  led  by  some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  and  women  of  the  country.  It  has  the  hearty 
sympathy  of  President  Brum,  who  paid  the  expenses  of  two 
North  American  young  women,  representing  the  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  on  a trip  through  the  different  provinces 
of  Uruguay  to  give  public  lectures  on  the  matter  of  temperance. 

An  anti-alcoholic  law  has  just  been  presented  to  the  Congress 
of  the  Republic,  which  contains  the  following  provisions : 

“The  drinking,  manufacturing,  invitation  to  partake,  the  presen- 
tation or  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors,  shall  be  considered  as  crimes 
designated  as  alcoholism  and  punished  by  fine  from  200  to  1,000 
pe.sos,  or  imprisonment.  This  does  not  except  wine,  beer,  cider, 


38 


and  liquors  with  a smaller  alcohol  content.  The  preparation  and 
sale  of  alcoholic  beverages  in  drug  stores  and  pharmacies  and 
the  therapeutic  use  of  alcohol  upon  the  presentation  of  a doctor’s 
prescription,  given  for  legitimate  reasons,  are  exceptions  to  this 
law.” 

In  Uruguay  a number  of  the  best  physicians  and  scientists  have 
given  attention  to  this  subject.  In  a treatise  on  the  diseases  of  the 
liver.  Dr.  Ricaldoni  says ; “Our  drinkers  are  eclectic.  Wine  is 
found  on  the  table;  away  from  the  table  there  is  white  drink, 
cognac,  bitters,  ginger  and  other  mixtures.  The  workman  re- 
freshes himself  with  sugar  water.  The  wdne  is  generally  of  the 
detestable  kind,  the  white  drinks  are  atrocious.  The  well-to-do 
drinker  believes  in  small  doses  taken  often.  The  laborer  uses 
torrential  down-pourings  on  Sundays.  The  former  dissimilates 
with  little  difficulty  during  the  hours  in  w'hich  he  is  in  contact 
with  the  world  his  physical  debilities,  inaugurating  each  morning 
with  an  eye-opener.  The  latter  gives  the  whole  week  to  honest 
toil  and  leaves  for  Sundays  and  holidays  his  torment  by  intoxica- 
tion.” 

The  Director  of  Charities  in  Montevideo  recently  .said:  “It 
is  not  simply  among  the  laboring  classes  where  the  battle  against 
alcohol  must  be  fought.  There  are  other  degrading  manifesta- 
tions which  can  only  be  combatted  by  means  of  education  and  by 
legal  repression.  There  is  the  alcoholism  of  the  dress  suit,  of  the 
'high  life,’  that  has  invented  a multitude  of  names  to  desig- 
nate its  curious  establishments  which  are,  after  all,  only 
places  for  the  selling  of  alcoholic  liquors,  just  as  harmful  as 
the  taverns  of  the  poor  where  the  Indian  drinks  his  corn  whiskey 
and  renders  fervid  worship  to  Bachus  in  the  midst  of  the  lowest 
scandals.  In  these  countries  of  the  La  Plata  the  fight  against 
alcohol  is  not  yet  well  organized  to  counteract  the  very  strong 
influence  in  these  young  societies.  Only  a few  enthusiastic 
propagandists  are  working  against  a strong  general  indifference. 
We  need  a study  of  social  hygiene,  with  statistics  vigorously 
presented,  to  change  public  opinion.” 

In  Argentina  the  eminent  international  lawyer  and  journalist 
who  writes  the  editorials  for  “La  Prensa,”  Dr.  Estanislao  Zeballo, 
has  recently  prepared  a law  which  was  presented  to  Congress, 
which  goes  a good  ways  toward  making  Argentina  a dry  country. 


39 


The  project  received  a favoralde  comment  from  the  press  in 
Argentina,  “La  Capital”  commenting  as  follows: 

“The  project  of  deputy  don  Julio  S.  de  la  Reta  (who  presented 
the  measure)  comes  at  an  o])portune  moment,  and  we  hope  that 
it  will  he  appreciated  in  its  full  value  by  legislators  desirous  of 
combatting  the  social  plagues  conspiring  against  life,  the  agents 
of  physical  and  moral  degradation.  The  regulation  of  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  alcoholic  drinks  should  be  the  object  of  a 
careful  study  on  the  part  of  the  National  Congress;  the  initiatives 
tending  to  eliminate  slowly  the  consumption  of  drinks  of  this 
nature  must  l)e  comjjlemented  by  the  total  suppression  of  the  sale 
of  liquors  particularly  harmful  to  the  consumer.” 

The  women  of  Argentina  have  a number  of  anti-alcoholic 
organizations.  Encouraged  by  the  aid  of  the  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Linion,  they  are  now  planning  a building  in  Buenos 
Aires  which  will  he  the  center  of  temperance  and  other  social 
movements  for  the  betterment  of  community  life. 

The  temperance  movement  in  Brazil  is  being  led  by  President 
Pessoa  himself,  who  has  recently  proposed  to  the  National  Con- 
gress quite  drastic  legislation.  A very  active  campaign  has  been 
carried  on  by  the  evangelical  Sunday  Schools  in  Brazil.  The 
Sunday  School  movement  in  that  country  has  developed  very 
rapidly  under  Brazilian  leadership.  The  daily  press  is  very  favor- 
able to  the  movement  and  the  Brazilian  leaders  are  able  to  develop 
public  opinion  in  favor  of  temperance  through  the  newspapers. 
The  pastor  of  a large  Presbyterian  church  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
which  counts  among  its  constituency  members  of  Congress  and 
leading  professional  men,  recently  inaugurated  his  stereopticon 
with  a lecture  on  temperance  which  many  of  the  most  influential' 
citizens  of  the  capital  attended. 

In  Colombia.  Senator  Felix  Salazar  is  said  to  have  presented 
to  Congress  a law  on  alcoholic  prohibitions  which  was  much 
debated.  The  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  is  here 
quoted : 

“The  anti-alcoholic  problem  must  be  met  squarely,  and  an 
advance  must  be  made  despite  the  obstacles.  In  the  United  States, 
when  the  fight  began,  the  trial  of  alcohol  produced  a book  with 
statistical  data  that  was  appalling.  Crime  finds  in  alcohol  its 
feeder,  and  statistics  prove  this.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  murders 
have  alcohol  as  their  cause ; likewise  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  divorces ; 
the  days  in  which  most  crimes  occur  are  precisely  Saturdays  and 


40 


Sundays  when  the  working  classes  dedicate  themselves  in  their 
idle  hours  to  alcohol.” 

Temperance  agitation  in  Peru  was  begun  as  far  back  as  1901, 
when  the  municipality  of  Lima  offered  a prize  for  the  best  essay 
on  the  means  of  combatting  alcohol.  The  real  campaign  began 
in  1912,  when  the  national  society  of  temperance  was  formed. 
Due  to  their  work  there  was  passed  recently  a law  which  prohibits 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  from  Saturday  afternoon  to  Mon- 
day morning,  in  all  parts.  A prize  was  offered  for  the  best 
manual  of  temperance  for  teachers.  A young  student,  fresh  from 
the  L’niversity  of  Wisconsin,  won  the  prize  and  his  book  has  now 
become  a text-book  in  the  schools  of  the  republic.  The  temper- 
ance society  lately  pointed  out  the  fact  that  in  Lima  there  was 
a “cantina”  for  every  nineteen  families,  and  a public  school  for 
every  1 .025  families. 

Reference  has  already  been  made,  in  the  section  on  the  feminist 
movement,  to  the  visit  of  Miss  Anna  Gordon,  president  of  the 
“Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  LTnion.”  That  visit  signified  as 
much  and  probably  more  for  the  temperance  movement  than  it 
did  for  the  feminist  movement.  Dr.  Silva  Cruz,  the  Secretary 
of  War.  and  president  of  the  University  Extension  of  the  National 
Educational  Association,  of  Chile,  said  the  following  in  welcoming 
Miss  Gordon  to  the  reception  held  in  her  honor  in  the  University 
of  Chile : 

“The  presence  among  us  of  Miss  Anna  Gordon  and  Miss  Julia 
Dean,  whose  exemplary  lives  are  a beautiful  witness  of  feminine 
energy  placed  at  the  service  of  the  most  vital  interests  of  humanity, 
the  presence  of  these  heroines  of  social  action,  honors  and  rejoices 
the  National  Association  of  Education.  The  fine  tact  of  woman, 
her  delicate  sensibilities,  her  superior  morality,  her  heart  open  to 
the  vibrations  of  human  sympathy,  make  her  the  best  of  social 
workers.  There  is  no  one  like  her  to  suffer  with  those  who  suffer, 
to  bind  up  the  wounds,  no  one  like  her  to  prevent  social  vice  of 
which  she  is  the  first  victim  generally,  without  blame  herself. 
Uappy  are  the  people  who  like  the  great  republic  of  the  North 
have  opened  to  women  a wide  field  for  their  noble  and  reneger- 
ative  mission.  The  forces  for  good  in  the  United  States  have 
conf|uered  the  vice  of  alcohol  throughout  the  country  and  they 
are  now  prepared  to  give  their  beneficent  influence  to  other  parts 
of  the  world.” 

Miss  Gordon’s  visit  was  a triumphant  procession  from  the  first 


41 


city  visited,  Lima,  to  the  last  one,  Rio  cle  Janeiro.  At  a fiesta 
given  in  the  Colon  Theatre  of  Buenos  xA.ires  by  the  children  of 
Buenos  Aires,  aided  by  the  principal  educationalists,  the  children 
showed  the  value  of  water  for  health  and  advocated  in  various 
classic  ways  the  value  of  temperance.  Motion  pictures  were  taken 
of  this  entertainment  and  these  films  are  being  shown  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  South  America  with  splendid  effect. 


42 


IV. 

THE  MOVEMENT  TO  MODERNIZE  EDUCATION 

Education  always  has  been  recognized  by  South  America  as  a 
most  important  problem.  Illiteracy  has  bung  like  a millstone 
about  the  neck  of  the  young,  ambitious  countries.  Practical 
difficulties,  the  lack  of  financial  ability,  a scattered  population,  the 
lack  of  teachers,  etc.,  have  prohibited  coping  with  illiteracy.  The 
inheritences  of  scholasticism  have  prevented  the  secondary  schools 
from  producing  students  who  were  prepared  to  confront  the 
practical  problems  of  life.  Today,  however,  there  are  found 
various  groups  who  voice  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  old 
scholasticism  and  a determination  to  reform  their  educational 
system. 

The  reform  of  education  is  a favorite  topic  of  the  press  and 
with  public  speakers  and  legislators.  In  the  old  days  those  who 
referred  to  the  high  per  cent  of  illiteracy  were  regarded  as  un- 
patriotic. Rut  now  there  is  much  public  discussion  of  the  rpies- 
tion.  “La  Manana.”  a daily  of  Montevideo,  in  an  editorial  advo- 
cating new  methods,  recently  gave  the  following  statistics  on 
illiteracy  in  the  different  countries.  Of  course  they  are  only 
estimates,  as  no  real  census  has  ever  been  taken  of  most  of  these 
countries.  Argentina,  38.8;  Uruguay,  40;  Chile,  68;  Pjrazil,  86; 
Rolivia,  87 ; Peru,  88 ; Paraguav,  88 ; Venezuela,  92 ; Colombia, 
92. 

It  was  also  stated  that  in  Brazil,  when  a recent  census  was  taken 
in  one  district,  only  thirteen  out  of  three  thousand  could  sign  their 
name.  In  Ecuador  there  is  one  pupil  for  every  two  thousand 
people,  in  primary  schools.  There  are  only  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  students  in  all  secondary  schools.  There  is  no  high  school 
for  girls  and  only  two  girls  in  the  Republic  are  in  the  University 
of  Ecuador. 

The  following  are  interesting  words  from  the  rector  of  an 
Argentine  university:  “Ten  thousand  persons  do  all  the  thinking 
and  directing  for  the  eight  or  nine  million  Argentines.  Consumers 
of  Erench  novels  may  number  one  hundred  thousand,  but  the 
readers  of  serious,  non  technical  books  are  between  two  thousand 
and  four  thomsand.” 

.Agustin  Alvarez  says:  “South  America  lives  by  lighting  candles 
to  the  saints  in  order  to  see  who  are  the  ones  to  work  the  miracles, 

43 


while  it  does  not  kindle  lights  in  the  minds  of  the  children  in  order 
to  illuminate  the  wav.” 


Student  Activities 

Among  those  who  are  giving  themselves  to  the  reformation  of 
the  educational  system  of  South  x-\merica,  the  students  themselves 
form  the  most  spectacular  group.  Student  organizations  in  these 
countries,  composed  as  they  generally  are  of  the  sons  of  the 
upper  classes,  have  always  exerted  a strong  influence  in  public 
matters.  Students  often  showed  their  displeasure  by  staging 
demonstrations,  when  matters  did  not  go  to  suit  them.  These 
demonstrations  in  former  days  were  usually  against  some  action  of 
the  Church  or  of  foreigners.  The  change  from  the  old  way  was 
vividly  shown  recently  when  the  students  marched  through  the 
streets,  not  with  any  cries  of  “down  wdth  the  priests,”  or  “death 
to  the  foreigners,”  but  with  these  significant  words  written  on  their 
banners : “Luz,  Mas  Luz.”  These  students  had  come  to  realize 
that  the  great  outside  world  was  moving  on,  and  that  their  anti- 
quated educational  system  was  not  fitting  them  for  this  new 
world.  “Light,  more  light”  on  present  day  life  w'as  their  demand. 

xAs  in  China  the  students  are  discovering  that  they  may  become 
a social  and  political  factor.  They  are  often  foolish  in  aims  and 
methods,  after  the  manner  of  youth,  but  their  influence  is  e.xtra- 
ordinary.  Lately  they  have  taken  to  joining  forces  with  the  labor 
unions.  This  combination  of  students  and  workmen  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  social  phenomena  noticeable  in  South  x\mer- 
ica.  Their  energies  are  directed  against  reactionary  forces.  Their 
radical  actions  have  brought  about  some  startling  results  in  coun- 
tries where  they  are  compactly  organized,  and  in  one  or  two  of 
the  countries  governments  are  very  much  afraid  of  what  these  new 
crusaders  may  do. 

In  Peru  this  union  has  advanced  no  further  than  a student 
movement  for  teaching  the  laboring  men  in  night  classes,  since 
the  labor  movement  there  is  not  yet  strong  enough  to  take  any 
part  in  a fight  for  reform.  But  the  students  of  San  Marcos 
University  are  teaching  classes  of  laboring  men,  that  number 
from  three  to  seven  hundred,  five  nights  a week,  either  in  the 
student  center  in  Lima,  or  in  industrial  centers  in  the  suburbs  of 
the  city.  This  is  probably  a most  hopeful  sign  for  those  who  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  the  Peruvian  labor  element  shall  be 


44 


sufficientK  instructed  to  take  an  intelligent  part  in  their  own 
emancipation  from  the  drudgery  and  squalor  of  their  present  life. 
Even  now  this  combination  of  students  and  workmen  in  Peru 
once  in  a while  joins  in  a slap  at  the  Church,  although  to  do  so  in 
Peru  means  daring  to  put  one’s  economic  or  social  life  in  jeopardy. 

In  Argentina  this  student-lahor  movement  has  grown  most  re- 
markably. It  has  brought  about  results  in  most  every  phase  of 
life.  In  1910  the  students  and  workmen  came  into  open  conflict 
in  the  streets  of  Buenos  Aires.  There  were  most  serious  results 
from  this  fight.  To  see  them  now  working  side  by  side  for  the 
forcing  of  reforms  is  therefore  little  less  than  miraculous.  It  is 
in  Argentina  that  both  the  students  and  the  workmen  have  carried 
their  demands  to  revolutionary  results.  Student  riots  and  strikes 
have  not  been  amusing  pranks  or  diversions  by  any  means.  They 
have  resulted  in  serious  fighting  and  deaths  on  both  sides.  In 
La  Plata  the  police  found  themselves  unable  to  handle  the  situa- 
tion and  soldiers  were  called  out.  They  instituted  a seige  of  the 
buildings  where  the  students,  armed  with  modern  rifles,  defended 
themselves  for  days.  During  one  of  the  strikes  a student  who 
dared  to  go  to  his  e.xamination,  was  .shot  down  in  cold  blood  by 
his  fellow  students. 

A recent  editorial  in  “La  Nacion,’’  of  Buenos  Aires,  says:  “In 
the  Colegio  Nacional  of  La  Plata  there  are  ff)und  today  much 
broken  furniture,  torn  curtains,  documents  thrown  over  the  floors 
and  archives  upturned  because  of  student  riots.  A great  deal  can 
be  forgiven  on  account  of  the  fire  of  youth,  but  it  is  im])ossible  to 
understand  how  educated  young  men  in  centers  of  culture  can 
fall  into  acts  which  reveal  that  the  most  essential  thing  in  life 
is  lacking — respect.  This  bad  behavious  is  .seen  not  onlv  in  the 
action  of  students  of  the  Colegio  Nacional  of  La  Plata.  It  is  seen 
daily  among  those  who  do  not  show  any  of  the  forms  of  courtesy 
which  were  such  a beautiful  part  of  our  social  life  in  the  old  days. 
There  is  a visible  lack  of  regard  for  the  rights  of  others.  All 
places  are  entered  as  a conquered  country,  and  there  seems  to  be 
no  feeling  of  power,  if  it  is  not  e.xercised  in  acts  of  vif)lence.  This 
spectacle  is  seen  on  the  streets  at  all  hours.  Trams  are  taken 
by  assault.  Women  are  pushed  in  elevators  and  loud  comments 
are  made  on  emotional  scenes  in  the  picture  shows,  where  many 
of  the  spectators  keep  on  their  hats  until  the  curtain  rises.  There 
is  a general  lack  of  respect  and  this  situation  gives  ri.se  to  such 
happenings  as  we  have  witnessed  in  the  national  college.” 


45 


In  Buenos  Aires  the  rector  of  the  Law  School,  one  of  the  best 
known  publicists  of  South  America,  was  barricaded  recently  in 
the  Law  Building  by  students,  who  kept  him  there  until  he  was 
rescued  by  the  police  reserves.  In  Cordova  the  strike  lasted  for 
almost  all  last  year,  and  witnessed  the  same  bloody  scenes  that  in 
the  old  days  used  to  be  associated  with  labor  strikes  in  the  United 
States. 

As  a demonstration  of  sympathy  with  the  students  of  Cordova, 
the  entire  university  student  body  of  Argentina  went  on  a three 
days’  strike,  wlien  they  paraded  the  streets  and  called  with 
vociferous  voices  for  their  rights.  Followdng  that  demonstration, 
the  Argentine  Lhiiversity  Federation  was  organized  and  a con- 
vention held,  in  July  of  1919,  to  study  student  problems.  As  a 
result  of  this  movement  the  students  have  forced  the  authorities  to 
revise  the  university  system,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  giving  them 
a vote  in  the  election  of  the  faculties  that  are  to  teach  them. 
This  right  was  demanded  because  the  students  felt  that  they  were 
not  getting  the  teaching  and  attention  that  modern  life  demanded. 
Their  ]wofessors  were  generally  professional  men,  who  came  to 
the  university  for  their  lectures  only,  giving  the  same  material 
year  after  year,  paying  no  attention  to  the  students,  using  their 
position  for  their  own  selfish  ends  rather  than  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  students.  ( )ne  who  has  lived  closely  to  these  students, 
in  referring  to  these  struggles,  says  with  evident  sympathy  for 
this  movement:  “If  our  students  have  not  been  called  to  shed  their 
blond  on  the  field  of  battle,  there  seems  to  be  in  these  movements 
a moral  awakening  and  a disposition  to  uproot  at  any  cost  the 
erroneous  traditions  from  which  they  have  been  suffering.  It  is 
necessarv  to  live  close  to  these  students,  to  suffer  with  them  the 
results  of  being  abandoned  by  governmental  authorities  and  un- 
derstand the  terrible  lack  of  moral  guidance,  in  order  to  appreciate 
the  meaning  of  many  of  their  acts.” 


Attitude  of  Educational  Leaders 
Among  the  teachers  and  educational  administrators,  as  well  as 
among  the  students,  is  found  this  dissatisfaction  with  the  past  and 
a striving  toward  a new  day.  The  movement  among  the  profes- 
sional educators  toward  modernizing  their  work  seems  to  lean 
toward  a closer  following  of  the  Luiited  States  in  educational 
matters. 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  South  America  in  1914  I was  impressed' 

46 


with  the  fact  that  North  American  education  was  very  slightly 
regarded  in  our  sister  continent.  In  1917  1 found  that  the  stu- 
dents were  turning  to  the  United  States  because  the  war  had 
shut  them  out  of  Uurope..  In  1921  1 find  not  only  that  students 
are  intensely  interested  in  how  they  can  get  to  the  United  States, 
but  that  educational  leaders  in  the  government  and  in  the  uni- 
versities are  also  studying  North  American  educational  methods 
and  are  becoming  convinced  that  these  should  be  more  largely 
adopted  by  South  America.  In  the  past  the  French  system  w'as 
the  generally  accepted  basis  of  education.  German  and  Belgian 
professors  have  been  employed  to  some  extent  during  the  last 
decade,  but  today  the  North  American  educational  ideals  seem 
to  be  more  popular.  The  returning  students  from  the  United 
States  and  the  tremendous  surge  of  national  unity  and  effective- 
ness which  marked  our  participation  in  the  war,  are  serving  to- 
gether to  turn  the  attention  of  Hispanic  educational  leaders  to 
this  country.  They  begin  to  suspect  that  there  is  a whole  realm 
of  idealism  and  of  intellectual  evolution  here  into  which  they  have 
scarcely  entered.  They  are  even  asking:  “Is  is  not  possible  that 
an  educational  system  freely  developed  in  a free  American  state 
should  have  certain  qualities  that  would  fit  it  for  the  uses  and 
needs  of  other  free  American  states?”  The  (piestion  has  become 
a fascinating  one  for  them.  I do  not  wish  to  convey  the  idea 
that  there  is  any  wholesale  copying  of  our  educational  system, 
for  such  is  not  the  case.  It  may  be  even  that  I have  identified  too 
largely  the  desire  for  modernizing  education  with  a leaning  toward 
North  American  education. 

In  Peru,  the  traditional  friend  of  the  United  States,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic,  has  appointed  an  American  Educational 
Commission  through  which  the  whole  educational  system  of  Peru 
has  been' turned  over  to  North  Americans  for  reorganization.  The 
work  of  this  commission  really  began  some  ten  years  ago  when 
the  present  executive,  Sr.  Leguia,  was  serving  his  first  term.  He 
then  called  Hr.  Harry  Erwin  Bard  and  three  other  educational 
experts  from  the  United  States  to  reform  the  national  school 
system.  Ur.  Bard  worked  with  the  Peruvian  educators  for  some 
two  years  on  the  theoretical  side  of  the  problem,  but  little  was 
done  practically.  Two  of  the  other  North  American  educators 
became  heads  of  state  schools,  and  one.  Dr.  Guiseke,  is  still  the 
president  of  the  University  of  Cuzco.  When  President  Leguia 
was  again  chosen  President  last  year,  he  invited  Dr.  Bard  to  re- 


47 


turn  and  bring  with  him  twenty-five  leading  educators,  specialists 
in  school  administration,  normal,  technical  and  commercial  train- 
ing and  school  activities.  These  men  are  now  on  the  ground 
beginning  their  work.  The  number  may  be  increased  to  as  high 
as  two  hundred  if  the  funds  can  be  secured.  The  possibilities 
for  success  or  for  failure  are  enormous. 

A new  law  suggested  by  the  commission  and  just  passed  pro- 
vides for  a complete  administrative  system,  based,  as  far  as 
possible,  on  a sane  balance  between  the  political  and  administrative 
functions  of  public  education,  and  a right  adjustment  between 
central  and  local  control.  It  provides  amply  for  the  practical  and 
vocational  training  without  neglecting  the  cultural  subjects  which 
have  been  the  backbone  of  Peru’s  system  heretofore.  Particular 
care  is  given  to  the  training  of  teachers,  from  the  primary  grades 
to  the  University,  so  that  many  of  the  best  young  men  and  women 
of  the  country  should  be  attracted  to  this  profession,  since  also 
a much  higher  rate  of  compensation  is  provided.  The  Director 
General  of  Instruction,  which  office  is  now  held  by  Dr.  Bard, 
has,  under  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  a member  of  the 
Cabinet,  complete  charge  of  the  technical  side  of  the  system.  Next 
to  him  are  three  regional  directors,  who  have  charge  of  primary 
and  secondary  schools  in  the  three  districts  into  which  the  nation 
is  divided.  Each  of  these  regional  directors  has  a corps  of  assist- 
ants who  represent  him  in  the  insj^ection  of  schools,  in  the  con- 
duct of  institutes  and  in  other  ways  of  developing  education  in 
their  respective  territories.  The  directors  themselves  are  required 
to  give  a reasonable  time  to  visiting  the  schools  and  through  them 
local  needs  should  receive  attention,  heretofore  an  impossible 
thing.  The  three  regional  directors  are  among  those  brought  from 
the  United  states  recently,  and  are  already  out  on  their  districts 
getting  the  new  system  inaugurated. 

This  educational  mission  is  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  that 
has  ever  been  given  to  the  United  States  to  pass  on  the  blessings 
of  its  public  schools  to  a needy  sister  nation.  If  this  experiment  in 
Peru  is  successful,  it  will  have  a strong  influence  on  American 
private  schools,  not  only  in  Peru  but  in  all  parts  of  Latin  America. 
If  politicpl  upheavals,  church  intrigues  and  lack  of  funds  cause 
it  to  fail,  it  will  also  react  against  American  mission  schools  and 
agains*-  all  North  American  influence  in  South  America. 

Besides  this  movement  bv  the  government,  the  classic  Univer- 
sity of  San  Marcos,  the  oldest  in  America,  founded  a hundred 


48 


years  before  John  Harvard  began  his  college,  has  recently  sent 
one  of  its  young  and  enthusiastic  professors  to  the  United  States 
to  study  our  university  life.  He  returned  to  Lima  with  a message 
of  enthusiasm  for  North  American  institutions  and  an  expression 
of  liberalism  which  is  likely  to  cause  something  of  a revolution  at 
old  San  Marcos.  While  this  university  is  not  financially  able  to 
carry  out  its  desire  for  a regular  system  of  exchange  professors 
with  North  American  schools,  it  would  be  greatly  pleased  to  have 
the  closest  relations  possible  with  them.  The  students  of  the  Uni- 
versity are  studying  how  to  be  helpful  in  the  community.  This 
extension  work  is  a healthy  sign  of  an  awakening  in  the  institu- 
tion. Since  the  University  was  not  in  session  I could  not  lecture 
before  the  whole  student  body,  as  the  faculty  desired,  but  I was 
able  a number  of  times  to  speak  with  them  in  small  gatherings 
about  closer  relations  with  North  American  university  life.  It 
would  have  been  easy  to  spend  several  months  there  in  just  such 
work.  It  would  be  well  for  some  of  our  universities  to  take  the 
major  responsibility  in  developing  an  interchange  with  this  historic 
institution  of  the  ancient  city  of  Lima. 

.An  interesting  experience  in  Lima  was  being  in  the  midst  of  a 
student  riot,  which  was  brought  on  by  police  interference  with  a 
meeting  in  the  “patio”  of  San  Marcos  University,  when  Prof. 
Belaunde  was  addressing  the  students  concerning  certain  abuses 
practiced  by  the  government.  In  the  midst  of  the  address  govern- 
ment secret  agents  started  a disturbance  which  grew  until  all  who 
had  guns  were  using  them,  and  those  of  us  who  didn’t  were  hiding 
behind  any  available  protection.  The  invading  of  the  sacred  pre- 
cints  of  the  revered  San  Alarcos  caused  a sensation  and  most  of 
the  faculty  resigned.  The  government  has  been  unable  to  get  rep- 
resentative men  to  take  their  places,  hence  the  University  remains 
closed,  having  been  declared  to  be  in  “estado  de  rcorganizacion.” 

Chile  is  one  of  the  countries  where,  in  the  past,  there  has  been 
most  prejudice  against  the  United  States.  During  the  last  few 
years,  however,  students  from  Chile  have  been  coming  to  this 
country  in  larger  numbers  and  have  reported  their  favorable  im- 
pressions back  home,  changing  the  old  prejudice  into  a real  appre- 
ciation, especially  of  our  educational  life. 

The  first  town  visited  in  the  “Shoe-string  Republic”  was  the 
port  of  Coquimbo,  where  I went  ashore  for  a few  hours  while  the 
boat  was  discharging  cargo.  Wandering  along  the  street  I saw  a 
school  building  and  thought  I would  go  in  for  a visit.  What  was 


49 


my  surprise  lo  find  that  the  Director  was  a young  Chilean  graduate 
of  Columbia  Cniversity  who  had  just  returned  from  the  United 
States,  after  three  years  of  special  study,  in  order  to  establish  for 
the  Government  of  Chile  commercial  high  schools  of  the  type 
which  has  been  developed  in  the  United  States.  A visit  to  his 
classes  showed  that  he  had  been  able  to  penetrate  deeph'  enough 
into  commercial  education  in  the  United  States  to  establish  a similar 
institution  in  his  own  town.  I am  just  in  receipt  of  a hook  of  some 
five  hundred  pages  which  he  has  written  for  the  Chilean  govern- 
ment. This  is  to  be  distributed  among  the  educators  of  Chile  for 
the  purpose  of  propagating  the  idea  of  commercial  high  schools 
in  that  country  along  the  lines  established  by  the  author  in  the 
Coquimbo  experiment. 

The  University  of  Chile,  located  in  Santiago,  is  a great  school, 
a real  universit}',  with  several  thousand  students.  It  was  my 
privilege  to  lecture  to  the  student  body  in  the  great  Salon  dc  Honor 
on  the  sulq’ect  of  developing  closer  relations  between  Chile  and  the 
United  States.  1 also  gave  two  addresses  before  the  students  of 
the  Institnfo  Pcdagogico,  which  bears  the  same  relations  to  the 
Lhiiversity  that  d'eachers’  College  does  to  Columbia  University. 
There  are  several  students  in  the  “Instituto”  who  are  planning  to 
come  to  the  United  States  with  Ur.  Jose  Alaria  Galvez,  the  head 
of  the  department  of  modern  languages,  who  has  been  for  many 
vears  an  enthusiastic  advocate  for  Xorth  American  colleges  among 
the  C hilean  students.  He  has  been  appointed  to  represent  his 
University  as  exchange  professor  this  year  at  the  Lhiiversity  of 
California.  1 am  sorry  to  say  that,  up  to  the  time  of  writing,  the 
government  has  been  unable  to  provide  for  bis  coming.  This 
exchange  between  the  universities  of  Chile  and  of  California  is 
onlv  the  lieginning  of  what  ought  to  be  developed  in  every  educa- 
tional center  in  America.  The  bead  of  the  Normal  School  of 
Chile  had  sjient  three  years  in  New  York  studying  Xorth  Ameri- 
can educational  systems,  as  a result  of  which  he  has  changed  his 
curriculum  to  conform  very  largely  to  that  of  our  own  state  nor- 
mal schools. 

The  time  1 spent  in  Santiago  was  all  too  short  to  answer  the 
manv  requests  for  interviews  with  students  and  educators  concern- 
ing wavs  in  which  closer  educational  relations  with  the  United 
States  might  be  established.  The  President  of  Chile  told  me  that 
he  was  verv  anxious  to  have  Xorth  .\merican  educators  come  to 


50 


Chile  and  asked  me  to  extend  a special  invitation  to  certain  educa- 
tors to  visit  Santiago. 

The  younger  elements  in  Chile,  led  by  Prof.  Ifnriopie  Alolino, 
have  recently  started  a new  university  in  Concepcion.  Its  curricu- 
lum is  quite  different  from  the  more  conservative  institution  in 
Santiago  and  emphasizes  the  modern  idea  of  pedagogy,  science  and 
psychology. 

Chile  has  recently  liecome  deeply  stirred  over  her  problem  of 
illiteracy  and  has  passed  a compulsory  education  law,  and  iwovided 
for  the  raising  of  the  .salaries  of  the  teaching  force  and  the  invest- 
ment of  a million  dollars  a }'ear  in  new  school  buildings.  The 
beneficent  effects  of  this  new  effort  are  shown  in  the  message  of 
the  President  in  June,  1921,  vchere  the  following  is  reported: 

Public  school  instruction  has  progressed  favorably,  within  the 
means  a\'ailable  to  the  government. 

There  are  actuallv  in  session  3,276  primary  schools,  with  an 
attendance  of  330,059  pupils.  The  teaching  personnel  of  these 
schools  is  7,455.  There  are  15  normal  schools  for  teachers,  with 
an  attendance  of  1,950  pupils.  There  are  15  daily  high  schools, 
with  a student  hndv  of  2,866;  and  29  night  schools  with  an  attend- 
ance of  5,391  students. 

.Schools  for  needle-work,  and  workshops  for  manual  training 
such  as  carpentry,  liasket-making,  binding,  weaving,  etc.,  are  oper- 
ating to  the  number  of  878,  with  an  attendance  of  115,664 
students. 

On  the  27tli  of  February  this  year,  the  law  making  ])rimary  in- 
struction obligatory  came  into  force,  and  alread}’  in  the  month  of 
March,  87,869  children  had  matriculated  more  than  in  the  same 
month  in  1920. 

Chile  has  undertaken  to  give  to  her  system  of  education  a more 
practical  trend  which  has  brought  about  great  reforms  in  her  ])ri- 
mary  instruction,  beginning  with  the  school  manual  training  class- 
es. perfected  in  1918,  under  the  name  of  primary  industrial  schools. 
There  has  also  been  established  a fourth  vocational  grade  after 
the  sixth  primary  grade  (third)  for  the  purpose  of  investigating 
and  determining  the  vocation  of  the  pupils  before  they  leave  the 
primary  schools,  training  them  to  this  end,  fitting  girls  for  domestic 
occupations  and  boys  for  the  various  trades  which  they  have 
chosen. 

In  the  last  meeting  held  by  the  Association  of  National  Educa- 
tion the  following  decisions  were  made:  To  state  that  the  basis  of 


51 


national  education  and  the  reform  of  the  secondary  courses  and 
better  preparation  of  students  entering  the  university  are  the  pur- 
jioses  of  program  for  primary  education  as  presented  to  the 
senate ; to  urge  better  and  more  efifective  methods  in  the  teaching 
of  primary,  secondary,  technical  and  military  education ; the  estah- 
lishment  of  rural  normal  schools  for  the  improvement  of  country 
schools  and  increase  of  agricultural  education ; the  carrying  out  of 
the  plans  of  the  board  of  school  control,  which  includes  the  teach- 
ing of  hygiene,  the  transformation  of  the  liquor  industry,  and  the 
scientific  choice  and  encouragement  of  sports ; to  congratulate 
President  Arturo  Alessandri  for  his  address  to  the  university 
extension  and  for  having  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  movement 
for  the  improvement  of  national  life. 

In  Buenos  Aires  I found  educational  conditions  most  turbulent. 
The  propaganda  of  the  Bolshevists  hits'freen  more  successful  here 
than  anywhere  else  in  South  America,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  very 
large  foreign  population.  The  educational  system,  along  with  the 
economic  one,  has  been  greatly  disorganized,  as  already  stated. 
For  this  reason  it  is  difficult  to  descril)e  the  situation  more  than 
to  .say  that  it  is  in  a state  f)f  flu.x.  The  disorganization  has  natu- 
rallv  brought  many  of  the  educational  leaders  to  a serious  study 
of  North  American  pedagogy  and  school  administration. 

Professor  Ernesto  Nelson,  an  influential  Argentine  educator 
who  has  spent  a number  of  years  in  the  United  States,  has  recently 
]niblished  an  im])ortant  work  entitled  “Nucstros  Males  U nhersita- 
rios,"  in  which  he  compares  the  North  and  South  .American  sys- 
tems and  advocates  the  adoption  of  the  former  in  large  part.  Pro- 
fessor Nelson  is  also  president  of  the  “Universidad  Libre,"  an  in- 
stitution which  endeavors  to  bring  the  teachings  and  benefits  of 
modern  science  to  the  people.  While  this  institution  is  not  competi- 
tive with  the  state  universities,  yet  it  and  similar  movements,  show 
that  many  educational  leaders  feel  the  need  of  striking  out  along 
some  new  lines.  Some  of  the  proposed  activities  are  lectures  re- 
garding social  and  public  hygiene,  lectures  on  education  in  the 
United  States,  publication  of  works  on  social  and  educational 
problems,  illustrated  lectures  on  biology,  physics  and  chemistry. 

One  of  the  most  encouraging  things  is  the  way  both  professors 
and  students  have  rallied  to  the  movement  to  help  the  needy  stu- 
dent of  Eastern  Europe,  whose  call  was  recently  brought  by  Mr. 
Chas.  D.  Hurrey  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association.  In 
Buenos  Aires  some  of  the  leading  professors  are  giving  liberally 


52 


of  their  time  to  the  compact  organization  which  has  been  formed 
for  gathering  funds.  It  is  probably  the  first  time  in  their  history 
that  Argentine  students  in  a body  have  taken  up  a great  unselfish 
cause  outside  their  own  borders. 

While  it  is  not  exactly  on  the  subject  of  the  new  educational 
movements  of  today,  yet  because  of  the  splendid  illustration  it  fur- 
nishes of  how  the  right  kind  of  North  American  teachers  can  help 
South  America,  I want  to  refer  here  to  the  establishment  of  the 
first  normal  and  kindergarten  schools  in  Argentina. 

The  great  Argentine,  Domingo  F.  Sarmiento,  living  in  exile  in 
the  United  States,  became  an  intimate  friend  of  Horace  Mann 
and  a profound  advocate  of  Mann’s  theories  of  education.  While 
in  the  United  States  Sarmiento  was  elected  president  of  his  coun- 
try. One  of  his  first  official  acts  was  to  commission  a Methodist 
missionary.  Dr.  Goodfellow,  to  engage  a number  of  the  best  North 
American  teachers  to  come  to  Argentina  to  organize  a system  of 
public  schools.  Congress  authorized  the  President’s  plans.  He 
decided  that  the  first  trial  of  an  institution  (to  be  a normal  school 
to  prepare  teachers  for  primary  instruction),  that  he  believed  was 
to  revolutionize  his  country,  be  made  in  the  city  of  Parana.  The 
whole  plan  was  worked  out  for  President  Sarmiento  by  the  emin- 
ent North  American  educator  who  was  called  to  head  this  revolu- 
tionary educational  institution.  This  great  man — great  if  little 
known — was  Prof.  George  A.  Stearns..  He  was  assisted  by  his  no 
less  remarkable  wife,  Mrs.  Julia  A.  Stearns,  who  acted  as  the 
principal  of  the  Model  School. 

The  social  and  political  conditions  of  the  country,  which  was 
just  coming  out  of  anarchy,  the  unorganized  condition  of  transpor- 
tation on  which  pupils  from  other  parts  of  the  country  had  to 
depend,  the  absolute  newness  of  the  whole  idea  wrapped  up  in  the 
institution,  all  added  to  the  difficulty  of  the  task  and  the  greatness 
of  the  success  achieved  by  Prof.  Stearns,  of  whom  everyone  in 
Parana  today  speaks  as  though  he  were  a national  hero.  The 
school  opened  in  1871.  There  were  two  teachers  and  twenty-two 
students.  In  the  interesting  reports  made  annually  by  Stearns  he 
says : “The  United  States  cannot  claim  the  honor  of  having  dis- 
covered these  new  methods  of  teaching;  they  have  been  taken 
from  other  countries  and  adapted  to  our  needs.  They  have  given 
origin  to  a system  of  popular  education,  which  has  demonstrated 
by  its  fruits  that  it  is  the  best  in  the  world.  The  great  basis  of  thi.s 
system  is  the  normal  schools  . . . What  these  normal  schools 


53 


have  done  for  the  United  States,  they  should  do  also  for  Argentina, 
d'he  Normal  of  Parana  is  the  first  of  these  schools  and  the  money 
spent  in  its  inauguration  is  a proof  of  the  wise  investment  of  what- 
ever funds  shall  he  destined  for  popular  education.” 

'i'he  success  of  Stearns  was  so  marked  at  Parana  that  by  a gov- 
ernment decree  of  January  14,  1875,  he  was  transferred  to  Tucu- 
man  to  open  the  second  normal.  Jose  M.  Torres,  his  successor  at 
the  Parana  school,  was  a great  admirer  of  North  American  educa- 
tion. The  greatest  addition  to  the  institution  was  made  in  1884 
when  it  w'as  decided  to  call  i\lrs.  Sara  C.  Eccleston  to  open  the  first 
kiuflergarten  in  South  America.  She  had  graduated  with  high 
honors  from  the  Kindergarten  Training  School  of  Philadelphia 
and  served  with  great  success  in  several  schools,  including  the 
^^4nona  Normal,  distinguished  for  her  culture,  love  of  children 
and  ability,  in  teacher  training.  What  an  impress  has  this  good 
woman  left  on  Parana  and  all  Argentina! 

The  kindergarten  idea  spread  throughout  Argentina.  It  aroused 
most  strenuous  opposition,  and  attacks  through  the  press  and  oth- 
erwise were  most  severe.  Pmt  the  demand  for  teachers  was  so 
great  that  Mrs.  Eccleston  was  called  to  Buenos  Aires  to  found  a 
training  school  for  kindergarten  teachers.  Here  she  carried  on 
her  work,  until  she  retired  liecause  of  age.  She  continued  to  live 
in  Buenos  Aires,  always  honored  and  revered,  until  her  death 
only  three  years  ago. 

With  such  an  inheritance  it  is  no  wonder  that  Parana  is  far  in 
advance  of  many  other  parts  of  Argentina  in  the  matter  of  educa- 
tion. The  Normal  School  now  has  about  a thousand  pupils,  two 
h.undred  and  fifty  in  the  normal  department  and  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  in  the  Ivlodel  School.  There  has  just  been  created  by  the 
national  government  a superior  normal  course  or  Teachers’  Col- 
lege. which  will  give  a still  higher  course,  preparing  teachers  for 
professorshijis  in  secondary  and  professional  schools.  This  “Fac- 
ulty of  the  Sciences  of  Education”  is  a part  of  the  new  “Uiiivcr- 
sidad  Lilroal.”  wdiich  wall  have  its  departments  of  IMedicine  and 
Engineering  located  in  the  citv  of  Rosario  and  the  Facultv  of  Law 
in  the  city  of  Santa  Fe.  The  Faculty  of  the  Sciences  of  Education 
has  already  been  opened  with  a splendid  lot  of  professors,  with 
whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  meet  in  session,  and  discuss  the  plans 
of  the  institution.  The  courses  lead  to  three  degrees.  Doctor  in 
Philosophy  and  Pedagogy.  Professor  in  University  Teaching  and 
Professor  of  Secondary.  Normal  and  Special  Instruction.  Thus  it 


54 


will  be  seen  that  this  faculty  will  provide  post-graduate  work  for 
the  graduates  of  the  Normal,  just  as  Teachers’  College  of  Colum- 
bia University  provides  advanced  courses  for  graduates  of  our 
state  normal  schools. 

And  so  the  souls  of  the  Stearns  and  the  Ecclestons  and  the 
others  who  left  the  comforts  of  home  and  friends  to  come  to  far 
away  Parana — their  souls  go  marching  on ! Some  two  thousand 
teachers  have  been  trained  here  and  sent  out  over  South  xAmerica. 

The  Republic  of  Paraguay,  ’way  up  in  the  heart  of  South 
America,  with  its  capital  city  a thousand  miles  from  Buenos  Aires, 
is  hungry  indeed  for  fellowship  with  the  outside  world.  Paraguay 
recognizes  that  friendship  with  the  United  States  is  almost  her 
only  hope,  for  her  larger  neighbors  are  interested  only  in  her 
commercial  e.xploitation.  Educational  representatives  of  the 
United  States  are  sure  of  a hearty  welcome.  The  proudest  pos- 
session of  the  people  of  Asuncion,  which  is  shown  to  every  visitor, 
is  the  libarary  of  twelve  hundred  of  the  best  American  books, 
recently  presented  to  them  by  the  Carnegie  Foundation,  This 
library  is  housed  in  the  Institnto  Paraguayo — a splendid  organiza- 
tion through  which  the  Paraguayan  educators  are  seeking  to  do 
something  for  the  community  by  means  of  night  classes,  gymnasia, 
etc.  At  a lecture  before  this  institute  I had  a reception  that  will 
never  be  forgotten.  The  President  of  the  Republic,  the  IMinister 
of  Public  Instruction  and  the  leading  educational  figures  of  the 
country  were  greatly  interested  in  discussing  how  the  educational 
forces  of  the  United  States  might  co-operate  more  closely  with 
Paraguay  in  the  solution  of  her  difficult  educational  problems.  The 
Colcgio  Lifcruacioiial,  recently  opened  by  one  of  the  North  Am- 
erican mission  boards  and  now  having  eight  American  teachers,  is 
looked  upon  by  Paraguayan  educators  as  a great  contribution  to 
their  life. 

Uruguay  is  not  much  larger  than  Paraguay,  but  it  is  favorably 
situated  on  the  x^tlantic  side  of  the  continent  and  is  in  many  ways 
the  most  progressive  republic  of  Latin  America.  President  Brum 
is  a young  man  but  a few  years  removed  from  his  student  activi- 
ties. He  was  a great  leader  among  the  students  of  South  Am- 
erica in  his  college  days  and  is  still  looked  upon  by  them  as  their 
guide  and  counsellor.  Fie  is  well  known  for  his  advocacy  of  Pan 
Americanism  and  for  his  rejection  of  the  idea  that  the  United 
States  is  desirous  of  exercising  hegemony  over  all  of  Latin 
America.  Since  this  idea  has  in  the  past  been  quite  generally 


accepted  among  the  student  classes.  President  Brum’s  repudiation 
of  it  has  had  a most  salutary  influence.  On  his  trip  to  the  United 
States  in  1917  he  took  special  interest  in  our  educational  system 
and  has  on  many  occasions  applied  American  ideas  in  his  own 
country.  Montevideo  is  the  Hague  of  South  America,  many  inter- 
national movements  having  their  headquarters  there. 

d'he  University  of  Montevideo  is  one  of  the  most  liberal  in  South 
America.  It  maintains  close  contact  with  North  American  educa- 
tional progress.  One  of  its  professors  has  recently  become  a sec- 
retary of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  and  is  using  his 
wide  influence  to  get  students  to  come  to  the  United  States.  A 
party  of  these  students  recently  arrived  with  a special  greeting 
from  the  university  to  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York.  There 
are  already  a number  of  Uruguayan  students  in  the  United  States 
and  they  are  making  a splendid  name  for  themselves.  They  will 
return  home  with  the  power  to  present  North  American  educational 
ideals  to  have  them  adopted  in  a larger  way  than  at  present.  The 
public  schools  of  Uruguay  have  recently  been  reorganized  and 
show  many  marks  of  the  North  American  system. 

The  Brazilian  government  has  shown  its  desire  for  closer  con- 
nections with  the  United  States  by  a recent  law  providing  for  the 
sending  of  about  one  hundred  students  to  our  universities  each 
year  for  special  study.  It  was  my  privilege  not  long  ago,  on  receipt 
of  a cable  from  Brazil,  to  meet  thirty-two  of  these  students,  all  of 
whom  are  now  in  this  country  attending  various  universities  and 
preparing  to  carry  our  ideas  and  ideals  back  to  Brazil. 

The  two  outstanding  phases  of  North  American  education  are, 
of  course,  the  standardizing  of  the  grade  system,  covering  our 
primary  and  secondary  courses,  and  of  the  college  requirements 
for  the  baccalaureate  degree.  It  is  in  these  chiefly  that  our  system 
has  differentiated  itself  from  the  French,  and  even  from  the 
English.  Since  the  development  of  these  peculiarities  seems  to 
have  been  spontaneous  rather  than  designed,  it  may  reasonably 
be  inferred  that  there  is  something  in  them  peculiarly  congenial  to 
what  in  Spanish  is  called  the  ambiente  of  the  New  World.  The 
American  physical  and  social  environment  and  the  republican  form 
of  government  have  produced  this  educational  system,  developing 
it  out  of  the  basal  ideas  brought  from  Europe.  Is  it  not  reason- 
able, therefore,  to  infer  that  it  will  fit  into  the  ambiente  of  other 
American  republics  better  than  will  any  strictly  European  order? 

Besides,  it  is  inevitable  that  the  educational  leaders  of  Latin 


56 


America  will  more  and  more  get  their  training  in  the  United 
States.  They  will  carry  back  with  them  not  only  admiration  for 
our  system  but,  what  is  even  more  to  the  point,  a familiarity  with 
its  organization  and  workins  which  will  make  it  easier  for  them 
to  strike  out  on  these  lines  than  on  any  other.  The  facility  with 
which  textbooks  and  school  supplies  may  be  adapted  for  use  in 
Latin  America  is  a practical  matter  which  will  also  have  a vast 
influence.  It  is  perhaps  not  amiss  to  call  the  attention  of  authors 
and  publishers  to  this  immense  new  market  for  their  standard 
textbooks. 

Nationalistic  Tendencies 

As  said  before.  I do  not  wish  to  give  the  idea  that  South  Ameri- 
can educators  are  inclined  to  take  over  bodily  our  North  American 
system.  Their  interest  in  it  is  simply  to  find  what  is  best  and  adapt 
it  to  their  own  environment. 

Some  of  the  leaders  of  Latin  American  countries  see  very 
plainly  that  each  country  should  have  a national  system  of  educa- 
tion, and  that  it  is  a mistake  on  their  part  to  ape  foreign  systems 
that  disregard  the  national  character.  It  is  a striking  fact  that 
Bolivia,  one  of  the  most  backward  countries  of  Latin  America, 
hidden  away  in  the  center  of  the  continent,  without  outlet  to  the 
sea.  has  produced  a writer  who  has  been  called  the  Rousseau  of 
Latin  America.  Prof.  Franz  Tamayo,  who  has  studied  the  science 
of  education  in  different  countries  of  Europe  and  America,  has 
contributed  a series  of  articles  on  a new  national  system  of  educa- 
tion for  Bolivia  that  have  attracted  much  attention  all  over  South 
America. 

“For  the  last  ten  years,”  says  Professor  Tamayo,  “we  have  fol- 
lowed attentively  the  evolution  of  education  in  Bolivia,  both  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  and  in  the  minds  of  its  directors,  and  we  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  up  to  the  present  time  their  process  of 
reasoning  has  been  based  on  one  or  more  false  premises,  and  that 
we  are  steering  without  a compass  and  without  a set  course  in  this 
matter. 

“Judging  by  these  false  and  puerile  standards,  the  supreme  aspi- 
ration of  our  pedagogues  would  be  to  make  of  our  new  countries 
new  Frances  and  new  Germanys,  as  if  this  were  possible,  disre- 
garding also  a biological  historical  law,  which  is  that  history  is 
never  repeated,  either  in  politics  or  in  anything. 

“Up  to  the  present,  this  has  been  a very  easy  system  to  follow, 


57 


since  there  has  l^een  nothing  to  do  but  to  cop)-  and  trace,  not  even 
adapting  any  particular  model  to  one’s  needs,  but  just  takdng  an 
idea  from  France  or  a curriculum  from  Germany,  or  vice  versa, 
without  the  use  of  ordinary  discretion. 

“In  the  meantime  we  have  wasted  money  and,  what  is  far  worse, 
time.  We  have  made  endless  regulations  and  founded  several 
institutions  and  the  main  question  in  the  meanwhile  remains  intact 
and  unanswered. 

“We  should  not  go  to  Europe  or  anywhere  out  of  Bolivia  to 
solve  our  pedagogical  proldem.  The  question  of  education  is  above 
all  a proldem  of  high  national  psychology. 

“It  remains  then  for  us  to  create  a national  system  of  education; 
that  is  to  say,  a pedagogy  of  our  own,  commensurate  to  our 
forces,  in  accordance  with  our  habits,  conforming  to  our  natural 
tendencies  and  tastes  and  in  harmony  with  our  moral  and  physical 
conditions.” 


In  the  four  movements  discussed  are  by  no  means  contained  all 
the  demonstrations  of  the  new  spirit  concerning  social  questions 
which  pervades  South  America.  Little  groups  for  the  study  of 
economic  problems  and  for  ministering  to  the  community  are 
springing  up  everyudiere.  In  many  cases  they  are  avowed  follow- 
ers of  the  Soviet.  The  most  widely  circulated  literature  in  Argen- 
tina is  a series  of  pamphlets  called  “El  Editorial  AdclanteE  which 
are  circulated  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  I\Iany  of  these  eulo- 
gize the  Soviet  government  in  Russia.  x\nother  important  series 
of  pamphlets  is  edited  by  “Trihuna  Libre,”  which  for  a number  of 
years  has  published  monographs  on  such  subjects  as  municipal 
proljlems,  housing  problems,  socialism  in  Argentina,  capital  and 
justice,  technical  education  for  workmen,  prison  reform.  INIany 
of  these  pamphlets  are  lectures  given  before  the  “Miisco  Social 
Argcnfino.”  which  is  the  organization  that  invited  President 
Roosevelt  to  South  America  and  every  year  arranges  a series  of 
lectures  from  distinguished  foreigners  and  Argentines  on  social 
and  international  questions. 

This  reminds  one  of  the  general  demand  from  the  reading  public 
for  a fresh  literature.  They  are  weary  of  erotic  French  fiction  on 
the  one  hand  and  of  standardized  and  rather  anticjuated  philo- 
sophy and  theology  on  the  other.  The  hostility  of  the  theologians  * 
toward  modern  science  has  held  back  the  tvpe  of  sociological, 


58 


pedagogical  and  humanitarian  studies  now  so  general  in  the  Chris- 
tian world.  Latin  America  has  begun  to  demand  her  share. 
Books  that  help  to  make  it  possilde  to  accept  modern  views  of 
science,  of  sociology,  anthropology,  ethics,  physics  and  the  rest, 
without  surrendering  the  Christian  faith  and  without  going  to  the 
extremes  of  social  anarchy,  are  coming  to  be  in  great  demand. 
No  greater  service  can  be  rendered  to  South  America  than  the 
furnishing  of  such  literature. 


59 


V 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS 

The  more  one  studies  the  regligious  problems  of  those  countries 
which  have  as  their  exclusive  religious  background  that  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  which  are  now  coming  out  into  a 
modern  life  which  is  opposed  to  the  strict  interpretations  and  limi- 
tations of  that  system,  the  more  he  is  baffled  by  the  complexity  of 
the  question.  He  easily  becomes  persuaded  that  it  offers  more 
difficulties  than  any  other  religious  problem  of  modern  times.  The 
apalling  difference  between  the  ideas  of  the  North  American  and 
the  South  American  on  this  subiect  was  brought  to  me  afresh  and 
more  intensely  at  a dinner  that  I recently  attended  in  the  city  of 
Buenos  Aires  with  three  of  the  leading  intellectuals  of  the  con- 
tinent. The  published  works  of  one  of  these  gentlemen  have 
already  run  above  the  half  million  mark  in  a continent  where 
scientific  and  literary  works  average  an  edition  of  a thousand.  As 
a professor  in  the  university  he  gave  a few  years  ago  a series  of 
lectures  on  the  teachings  of  Emerson  and  New  England  morality, 
which  challenged  the  youth  of  Argentina  to  a new  moral  life. 
Another  of  these  gentlemen  is  the  author  of  the  best  work  on  the 
sociology  of  Latin  America,  professor  of  law  in  the  university, 
member  of  one  of  the  supreme  courts  of  Argentina,  and  a constant 
public  advocate  of  the  necessity  of  impi^oving  'the  moral  atmos- 
phere of  his  country.  The  other  friend  has  been  for  many  years 
a recognized  leader  in  public  secondary  education  in  his  country. 
He  has  written  two  books  describing  education  in  the  United 
States,  after  a residence  of  several  years  in  that  country,  and  is  a 
strong  factor  in  the  social  betterment  of  his  people.  All  of  them 
read  North  American  literature  and  keep  abreast  of  the  world 
movements  in  an  exceptional  way. 

This  group  might  fairly  be  considered  representative  of  the 
highest  and  best  of  South  American  intellectual  life.  We  talked 
for  more  than  three  hours,  largely  about  the  religious  question. 
But  when  we  finished,  I felt  we  had  been  talking  a wholly  different 
language.  Having  spent  several  years  in  studying  the  spiritual 
problems  of  these  countries,  I thought  that  I could  appreciate  the 
views  of  the  intellectual,  at  least.  Yet  it  seemed  that  we  were  ten 
thousand  miles  apart!  “When  you  ask  us  to  be  religious,  you  are 
asking  us  to  be  immoral.  Religion  is  organized  evil.  We  fight 


60 


religion  as  we  fight  all  other  enemies  of  progress.”  Thus  these 
men  argued.  When  urged  that  they  should  not  class  all  religion  with 
the  form  that  they  had  known,  they  replied,  in  substance;  “We 
understand  that  you  connect  religion  with  morality.  And  since 
w’e,  individually,  have  read  your  books  and  know  your  people,  we 
can,  by  interrupting  our  natural  chain  of  thought  and  explaining 
to  ourselves,  understand  that  you  are  reasonable,  when  you  ask  us 
to  consider  religion.  But  the  fact  remains  that,  as  South  Ameri- 
cans, with  the  example  before  us  of  what  religion  has  been  here, 
we  have  no  interest  in,  scarcely  any  patience  with,  your  religious 
appeal.  We  desire  to  be  more  noble,  more  honest,  more  interested 
in  our  fellow  men,  more  spiritual,  if  you  please.  But  we  cannot 
realize  naturally  in  our  consciousness,  though  we  might  give  intel- 
lectual assent  while  you  are  here  to  explain,  that  religion  can  pos- 
sibly help  in  the  solution  of  either  our  personal  or  our  national 
problems.  You  will  reach  us  far  better  by  the  appeal  which  takes 
us  where  we  are  and  faces  frankly  our  own  situation,  as  did  our 
great  moral  preacher,  Agustin  Alvarez,  than  you  will  by  suggest- 
ing some  ethereal  matter  that  takes  for  granted  a religious  back- 
ground which  is  altogether  foreign  to  us.  An  appeal  to  the  Bible 
has  no  authority  wdth  us.  As  to  Christ,  we  have  known  Him  as 
either  an  efifeminate  sentimentalist  or  the  martyr  of  a lost  cause. 
If  we  are  to  accept  Him,  He  must  be  shown  to  us  in  a different 
light.” 

Such  I understood  to  be  the  main  gist  of  our  conversation.  But, 
as  1 say,  I was  so  confused  by  the  very  difference  with  which  we 
used  common  terms  and  the  seeming  impossibility  of  making  each 
other  understand,  that  1 have  never  been  able  to  clarify  in  my 
own  mind  the  real  significance  of  what  they  were  saying  to  me. 
And  most  probably  they  had  less  idea  of  what  I was  trying  to 
convey  to  them.  Try  as  we  would  to  get  together,  our  grand- 
fathers, with  all  the  differences  of  inheritance,  were  fighting  to 
keep  us  apart;  and  their  defeat  could  not  be  accomplished  except 
by  a process  much  longer  and  more  exacting  than  a conversation 
around  a dinner  table. 

A little  while  before  that  dinner  in  Buenos  Aires,  I sat  in  a club 
in  Santiago  de  Chile  with  a professor  of  the  university.  Interna- 
tional relations,  labor  questions,  student  exchanges  were  interest- 
ingly discussed.  It  was  midnight  when  we  came  to  touch  the 
question  of  the  spiritual  world  and  our  own  attitude  toward  it. 
This  man  is  a believer  in  New  England  morality  and  recommends 


61 


to  his  students  the  reading  of  the  Bible  and  attendance  at  Chris- 
tian schools  in  the  United  States.  He  is  a friend  of  the  North 
American  mission  schools  and  a constant  advocate  of  Christian 
principles.  But,  wdien  he  opened  his  soul  and  let  me  see  its  own 
barrenness,  the  cold,  clammy  air  of  the  night  descended  upon  me, 
till  I shuddered  with  the  darkness  and  dampness.  Religion,  a good 
thing  for  society;  the  Bible,  a great  literary  and  moral  book;  but 
God,  life  after  this  life,  communion  with  a higher  Rower — all  that 
is  only  a creation  of  human  fancy ! Saddest  of  all  about  this 
friend,  whom  through  the  years  1 have  learned  to  love  for  his 
great  work  for  students,  is  the  fact  that  his  background  and  envir- 
onment are  so  hard  that  it  seems  almost  hopeless  to  try  to  find 
entrance  for  the  warm  evangelical  truth  that  would  make  him  a 
marvelous  spiritual  power,  recognized  over  the  whole  continent. 

i will  not  cite  more  examples  of  the  many  conversations  held 
recently  in  South  America  with  some  of  the  greatest  men  I have 
met  on  any  continent,  concerning  the  great  problems  of  the  soul — ■ 
with  men  who  are  as  earnest  as  any  North  American  ever  dared 
be  in  their  desire  to  serve  their  generation.  These  illustrations  are 
suflicient  to  serve  as  a background  to  an  endeavor  to.  survey  briefly 
the  present  situation  of  religion  in  South  America.  This  endeavor 
is  made  in  all  humility.  For  it  is  made,  as  already  intimated,  with 
a conviction  that  the  combination  of  rapid  material  progress  and 
sudden  contact  with  the  outside  world,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
persistence  of  a mediaeval  ecclesiasticism  on  the  other,  presents  the 
most  difficult  religious  problem  of  today.  It  is  also  made  with  a 
more  profound  realization  than  ever  before  of  the  great,  the  baf- 
fling difficulty  which  confronts  an  Anglo-Saxon,  with  all  his  cen- 
turies of  liberal  background,  when  he  tries  to  understand  spiritual 
conditions  in  South  America,  complicated  as  they  are  by  age-long 
teachings  and  disciplines  such  as  no  other  peoples  have  experienced. 

The  Strength  and  Weakness  of  the  Roman  Catholic 

Church 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  loss  of  faith  in  the  Church 
by  the  men  of  Latin  America  to  such  an  extent  that  we  are  likely 
to  think  that  this  means  that  the  Church  itself  is  weak  and  deca- 
dent. But  the  universal  testimony  gained  on  my  most  recent  trip 
is  that  the  Church  is  at  present  more  active  and  influential  than 
for  many  years.  It  is  not  gaining  in  spiritual  power  and  in  moral 
strength,  but  has  awakened  to  its  threatened  loss  of  direction  of 
the  nation’s  life  and  is  moving  (one  can  hardly  resist  the  common 

62 


expression,  “heaven  and  hell”)  every  possil)le  piece  of  machinery 
to  strengthen  its  hold.  I can  never  forget  the  repeated  references 
to  “estos  Senores”  (these  gentlemen)  made  by  a distinguished 
educationalist  who  referred  to  the  powers  represented  in  the 
Cathedral,  as  we  passed  that  building  again  and  again  in  our  walks 
around  the  beautiful  Plaza  Mayo  one  night,  when  most  other 
people  had  retired  and  we  had  full  field  for  opening  our  hearts  to 
each  other.  What  the  Cathedral  represented  to  him  was  the  black- 
est fact  in  Argentine  life.  It  was  an  influence  that  seldom  comes 
out  into  the  open,  but  whose  silent,  hidden  power  is  everywhere 
reaching  out  to  stop  any  proposed  reform  movement,  social,  edu- 
cational, industrial  or  religious.  It  had  even  l)een  shrewd  enough 
to  link  up  with  the  radical  government,  which  ordinarily  is  at  the 
opposite  end  of  the  pole  from  them.  But  the  radical  government, 
composed  of  the  working  men  largely,  untrained  in  the  art  of 
governing,  and  sadly  in  need  of  some  force  that  can  exert  a stabil- 
izing influence  to  keep  it  in  power,  has  been  glad  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  the  hierarchy  and  form  a partnership  with  it,  to  hold  the 
country  in  line. 

d'he  Church  is  making  every  efifort  to  checkmate  the  develop- 
ment of  various  social  movements.  Its  opposition  to  the  working- 
men’s and  student  organizations,  which  have  recently  united  to 
work  for  a changed  order,  has  drawn  heavy  fire  from  these 
organizations.  This  is  brought  out  in  a lecture  given  I)y  Prof. 
Telemaco  Susini,  a well  known  member  of  the  facultv  of  the 
University  of  Buenos  Aires,  recently  before  a great  crowd  of 
students  and  workmen  in  Cordova.  The  lecture  is  ])ublished  in  a 
series  of  l)ooklets  which  are  circulated  by  the  tens  of  thousands 
in  Argentina.  The  title  of  the  lecture  is  “Social  Proldems  and  the 
Catholic  Church.”  The  following  extracts  from  Prof.  Susini’s 
lectures  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  general  attitude  of  these  im- 
portant groups  toward  the  Church ; though  it  must  be  recognized 
that  the  Church  has  itself  succeeded  in  organizing  other  groups  of 
students  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  clergy,  fight  for  the 
Church. 

“I  salute  you  with  more  enthusiasm  because,  as  I have  said  on 
other  occasions,  the  University  movement  in  Cordova  has  been 
the  beginning  of  a social  revolution  which  has  brought  a1)out  unity 
of  action  between  the  workmen  and  the  students.  I salute  you, 
united  in  one  desire,  the  love  of  humanity,  and  in  the  indomitable 


63 


purpose  to  constitute  an  imniovable  wall  against  w'hich  will  be 
snarrered  all  the  serried  attacks  of  corruption  and  violence  of  your 
common  enemy.  This  union  has  been  made  the  basis  of  attacks 
on  the  students.  With  the  principle  that  the  end  justities  the 
means,  the  enemy  has  called  the  workmen  anarchists  and  thereby 
has  stigmatized  the  student  movement  as  tending  toward  anarch- 
ism. flence  the  contention  that  the  government  ought  to  apply 
the  law  to  the  workmen  and  stop  the  reforms  in  university  organi- 
zation. Besides  this,  but  with  the  same  object  in  view,  two  organi- 
zations have  been  created  for  the  purpose  of  combatting  this  al- 
leged anarchy  and  threatened  disorder,  to  wit : the  /Vrgentine 
Catholic  Union,  which  is  to  bring  us  social  peace  by  means  of 
reciting  prayers,  and  the  Argentine  Patriotic  League,  which,  for 
its  part,  IS  to  bring  peace  by  means  of  violence  in  combination  with 
the  Catholic  Union,  with  which  it  is  so  clearly  identified*." 

• Vccording  to  a leading  Argentine  citizen,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  influences  in  his  country  is  the  body  of  alumni 
of  the  Jesuit  College  of  Buenos  Aires.  No  public  position  is 
filled  without  their  having  a hand  in  it;  no  bill  is  presented  to 
Congress  wdthout  their  attitude  lieing  made  felt;  no  educational 
change  is  proposed  without  taking  steps  to  shajie  it  according  to 
their  liking. 

The  circle  of  higher  class  women  is  another  powerful  force 
used  by  the  clergy  to  kill  any  new  movement  that  ajiparently  tends 
to  cast  refiection  on  the  old  order,  d'he  inside  machinations  of 
the  jiriests.  which  generally  direct  the  “\\ Omen's  ( lulls"  of  the 
liigher  classes  are  so  full  of  narrowness  and  deceit  that  it  is  a 
standing  wonder  that  they  can  “put  it  over." 

I'he  develo])nient  of  the  tem])erance  movement  in  .\rgentina  is 
lull  of  illustrations  ol  the  way  th.e  Church  tries  to  control  modern 
movements,  when  it  sees  they  are  inevitable.  The  higher  class 
women  have  become  very  much  interested  in  the  movement,  as 
have  the  middle  class.  The  “Danias  Distinf/uidas"  have  here- 
tofore s])urned  association  with  the  school  teacher  class  who  were 
working  for  the  common  cause  of  temperance.  Yet  the  “Daiiias’' 
were  recently  led  by  their  clerical  advisors  to  combine  with  the 
teacher  organization  with  the  oljject  of  eliminating  the  Protestant 


" a’he  Catholic  Union  is  a kind  of  Knights  of  Columbus  that  represents 
the  CatliolicS  in  public  matters.  The  Argentine  Patriotic  Ueague  is  an  organ- 
ization of  conservative  forces  that  makes  itself  responsible  for  the  pei'secu- 
tion  of  liberal  forces. 


64 


secretary  sustained  by  a North  American  temperance  organiza- 
tion, and  get  control  cjf  the  building  that  it  was  proposed  to  erect 
'to  house  the  various  temperance  activities.  It  was  considered 
a great  triumph  recently  when  a Roman  Catholic  clergyman  ap- 
peared on  the  same  platform  with  the  IMethodist  bishop  in  Buenos 
Aires  on  the  occasion  of  a reception  to  the  visiting  president  of 
the  North  American  society.  But  the  inside  story  of  the  machin- 
ations of  the  clericals,  so  that  the  whole  affair  might  resound  to 
the  glory  of  the  Church,  are  beyond  belief  among  circles  unin- 
formed on  these  matters. 

In  Buenos  Aires  the  Church  is  finding  many  ways  to  checkmate 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  .Association,  which 
with  nearly  4,000  members  and  its  influence  reaching  out  through 
the  university,  business  and  industrial  circles,  is  becoming  danger- 
ous. So  the  recent  encyclical  of  the  Pope  against  the  Association 
was  used  by  the  clergy  to  create  a fresh  attack.  One  of  the  small 
ways  in  which  this  attack  became  evident  was  in  a movement  for 
l)ringing  cheer  to  the  inmates  of  the  city  hospitals  recently,  one  of 
the  many  evidences  of  the  awakened  altruism  of  the  Argentines. 
The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  was  requested  to  join 
the  movement,  as  was  the  president  of  a large  Roman  Catholic 
W oman’s  Society.  As  soon  as  the  latter  found  that  the  .Association 
had  accepted,  her  own  support  and  that  of  her  societv  were  with- 
drawn. 

The  eft'ect  of  this  constant  fighting  of  everything  outside  of 
the  Church  easily  ex])lains  the  attitude  of  the  intellectuals,  already 
described.  Wdien  young  men  who  are  members  of  the  .Associa- 
tion and  understand  its  broad  program  of  service,  hear  their 
mothers  telling  about  checkmating  the  organization  here  and 
there,  at  the  direction  of  their  parish  priests,  the  voung  men  are 
naturally  disgusted  with  the  Roman  Church.  Rut  thev  are  prob- 
ably not  in  position  to  appreciate  the  need  of  following  up  the 
evangelical  side  of  religion.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  if 
they  should  choose  to  go  to  some  evangelical  church,  thev  would 
likelv  find  the  service  most  distasteful  to  them,  with  its  bleak  and 
foreign  surroundings  and  its  preaching  directed  to  a congregation 
which  is  of  much  lower  intelligence  and  accustomed  to  a termin- 
ology entirely  foreign  to  the  student. 

In  Brazil,  as  in  Argentina,  the  Church  is  working  with  other 
conservative  forces  to  develop  the  spirit  of  nationalism  and  to 
exclude  all  movements  that  look  toward  progress  and  world  rela- 

65 


tions.  In  the  name  of  patriotism,  the  most  reactionary  programs 
are  being  fostered.  A few  illustrations  will  show  how  varied 
these  efforts  are.  One  is  against  the  Portuguese,  especially  the 
fishermen,  who  have  long  made  their  center  in  Brazil,  and  are 
among  the  most  industrious  people  in  the  country.  The  move- 
ment has  become  so  strong  that  one  of  the  dailies  of  Rio  de  Janeiro 
has  taken  up  the  fight  for  the  Portuguese  and  is  showing  up  what 
is  really  hack  of  the  movement.  Recently  the  bishop  of  Marianna 
issued  a pastoral  in  which  he  said  that  the  North  American  mis- 
sionaries were  secret  employees  of  the  United  States  government, 
working  for  “peaceful  penetration”  of  the  Yankees.  While  charges 
of  this  kind  have  often  been  made  by  parish  priests,  this  public 
declaration  of  a Ifishop  was  considered  serious  enough  for  the 
American  ambassador  to  deny  it  in  an  open  letter.  The  Protestants 
in  Brazil,  who  now  count  among  their  friends  and  membership 
some  of  the  best  people  of  the  country,  are  planning  to  request 
the  national  senate  to  open  an  inquirv  on  the  subject  so  that  the 
public  may  learn  the  whole  truth  about  the  matter.  The  fact 
that  the  Evangelical  Church  in  Brazil  has  largely  grown  away 
from  the  leadership  of  foreigners  and  is  very  much  of  a Brazilian 
institution,  with  its  own  national  leadership  of  recognized  power, 
makes  this  kind  of  a statement  particularly  obnoxious.  Tbe  fol- 
lowing are  extracts  from  this  pastoral : 

“To  entrust  children  to  heretical  teachers  or  to  heterodox 
schools,  is  to  put  them  on  the  direct  road  to  eternal  condemnation. 
Fathers  and  mothers  you  woidd  never  send  your  children,  for 
any  consideration  in  the  world,  to  the  house  of  small-pox,  leprous 
or  consumptive  patients,  for  fear  of  their  contracting  the  sickness 
and  losing  their  lives.  How  have  you  the  heart  to  send  them  to 
schools  where  almost  certainly  they  are  to  lose  their  faith  and 
life  eternal  ? Parents  who  act  thus,  commit  a very  grave  sin  against 
the  love  and  care  that  they  owe  their  children,  and  are  traitors 
to  God,  who  entrusted  the  children  to  them  that  they  might  be 
put  in  the  way  of  His  service  and  to  heaven,  whereas  they  really 
put  them  in  the  way  of  the  service  of  His  enemies  and  to  hell. 
Such  parents  incur,  in  a special  way,  the  greater  excommunication 
reserved  to  the  Pope,  seeing  they  are  factors  of  heresv.  because 
entrusting  children  to  those  schools  is  a manife.st  protection  given 
to  the  same  and  to  the  cause  for  which  it  strives. 

“Above  this  reason  of  natural  order,  which  for  a Christian  ought 


66 


to  I)e  above  all  reasons,  there  is  one  of  human  order,  which  for  us 
Brazilians  speaks  louder  than  the  highest  of  earthly  considera- 
tions; it  is  the  love  of  our  country,  Brazil.  If  we  desire  a country 
truly  free,  mistress  of  her  own  destiny  and  governing  herself, 
by  herself,  with  dependence  on,  or  wardship  from,  no  nation 
whatsoever,  however  friendly  such  an  one  may  be  proclaimed  to 
be,  we  cannot  favor,  but  rather  oppose  a tenacious  and  irrecon- 
cilable resistance  to  tbe  Protestant  propaganda,  whose  principal 
end  in  view  is  to  estaldish  the  North  American  dominion  in  our 
Brazil.  Of  this,  there  is  today  no  possible  doubt  and  the  only  one 
who  will  not  confess  it  is  the  one  who  has  some  interest  in  dis- 
simulating what  is  before  the  eyes  of  all. 

“It  is  not  the  love  of  the  truth  that  induces  the  American  sects 
to  spend  in  their  Protestant  propaganda  sums  so  large-  that  they 
mount  up  to  millions  of  dollars.  If  it  is  the  love  of  their  neighbor 
and  the  love  of  God  that  brings  them  to  he  missionaries  to  us, 
as  with  badly  dissimulated  feigning  they  affirm,  why  do  they  notmake 
use  of  this  charitv  in  bringing  to  better  terms  the  unfaithful  who 
abound  in  the  United  States  more  than  in  any  other  country  in  the 
world  that  calls  itself  Christian?  From  the  statistics  of  that  Re- 
public it  is  known  that  there  are  living  there  sixtv  millions  of 
men  without  religion,  without  baptism,  with  no  religious  belief. 
There  are  more  heathen  there  than  in  all  the  other  American  re- 
publics put  together.  In  Brazil  we  are  all  (na  totalidado)  baptized, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  almost  all  believe  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  profess  the  Catholic  religion,  in  which  we  were  born 
and  in  which  we  want  to  die.  Protestants  know  perfectly  that 
we  are  saved  in  our  religion,  just  as  we  know  that  for  them  .sal- 
vation is  impossible,  unless  it  be  that  an  invincible  good  faith  may 
defend  them  at  the  divine  iudgment  seat.” 

The  most  successful  reactionary  movement  has  been  one  which 
the  hierarchy  has  initiated  in  education,  which  it  is  thought  has 
for  its  object  the  putting  of  all  schools,  both  private  and  public, 
under  a course  of  .study  that  will  effectually  shut  out  foreign  ideas 
and  maintain  the  status  quo  of  all  Instruction.  The  first  move- 
ment toward  this  has  already  been  made  and  has  resulted  in  the 
closing-  of  the  Denartments  of  Pharmacy  and  Dentistry  of  Gran- 
berv  College,  a Methodist  school  that  for  a quarter  of  a century 
has  been  recognized  both  by  the  Brazilian  government  and  the 
public  as  a most  useftil  and  modern  educational  institution.  The 
closing  of  these  schools  was  secured  by  demanding,  according  to 

67 


some  forgotten  “blue  law,’’  the  maintenance  of  a corps  of  na- 
tional professors  three  times  as  large  as  at  present.  It  being 
financially  impossible  to  comply  with  the  demand,  the  schools 
had  to  close.  The  same  action  is  now  being  taken  against  Macken- 
zie College,  a still  better  known  evangelical  school,  which  counts 
among  its  graduates  many  of  the  outstanding  government  officials 
and  professional  men  of  Brazil.  The  question  was  being  warmly 
debated  in  the  daily  papers  when  I was  in  Brazil,  the  first  days  of 
June,  1921.  The  new  educational  law  w'as  soon  to  be  reported  and 
the  educational  leaders  in  liberal  circles  were  getting  ready  to 
studv  it  carefully,  not  only  in  general  principle,  but  especially  for 
the  “jokers”  which  would  be  hidden  away  in  insignificant  phrases, 
to  be  interpreted  for  the  limitation  of  freedom  when  the  proper 
time  arrived. 

It  seems  strange  that  liberal  forces  in  Brazil,  where  the  con- 
stitution provides  for  separation  of  Church  and  State  and  where 
the  movement  of  Positivism  grew  so  strong  in  the  early  days  of 
the  repul )lic,  this  country  being  the  only  one  in  America  where 
a Positivist  church  was  actually  built,  are  now  fearing  a great 
sweep  of  reaction  and  fanaticism.  On  the  other  hand,  in  countries 
like  Peru,  Chile  and  Paraguay,  where  there  has  been  not  only  a 
state  Church  but  a very  strong  clerical  influence,  there  is  now  a 
strong  liberal  current. 

In  Paraguay  one  of  the  most  exciting  measures  before  the 
present  Congress  is  a divorce  law.  This  was  introduced  as  the 
result  of  a widely  advertised  scandal,  when  a priest  in  Asuncion 
ruined  a young  woman  of  his  parish.  The  Church  is  fighting  the 
divorce  law,  as  it  alw’ays  does.  It  represents  a dangerous  break 
from  authority.  Noted  ecclesiastical  orators  from  Buenos  Aires 
have  recently  been  brought  to  Asuncion  to  give  public  lectures  on 
questions  of  religious  authority.  Some  of  the  liberals  believe 
that  not  only  will  the  divorce  law  be  passed,  Imt  that  there  will 
soon  follow  the  .separation  of  Church  and  State.  A footnote  on 
this  question  was  the  recent  withdrawal  of  permission  of  the 
Protestant  forces  to  have  open  air  meetings  in  the  plaza.  When 
their  cause  was  championed  by  the  local  press  the  permission  was 
restored,  and  the  meeting  attended  by  great  crowds  of  liberal 
sympathizers,  who  afterward  went  to  the  preacher  and  asked 
to  join  his  organization  “because  they  were  against  the  Catholics’' 
(a  proposition  which  the  minister  of  course  refused,  explaining 
that  this  was  not  what  his  organization  represented).  A foreign 


68 


priest  told  me  that  he  hoped  the  Church  would  he  disestahlished 
as  that  was  the  only  way  it  would  develop  any  strength.  He  said 
that  at  present  the  Church  only  received  some  $25,000  pesos  Para- 
guayan annually  from  the  State,  and  the  limitations  which  the  State 
imposed  made  the  bargain  unprofitable  to  the  Church.  This  priest 
was  strong  in  his  con.demnation  of  the  Church  in  Paraguay.  He 
said  there  were  a number  of  saints  in  Paraguay  not  known  to  the 
rest  of  the  Catholic  world,  and  that  the  baptismal  records  of  his 
parish  showed  about  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  children  illegitimate. 

In  L ruguav  the  Constitution  adopted  in  1917  provided  for  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State.  Many  believe  that  this  has  been 
a great  benefit  to  the  Church,  which  now  for  the  lirst  time  has 
its  own  Archbishop  and  seemingly  is  commanding  a more  loyal 
support  frt)m  its  meTuhership.  The  head  of  the  Catholic  i)arty 
in  Uruguay  is  one  of  the  most  noted  authors  and  most  honored 
citizens  of  Soutli  .America,  Ur.  Juan  Zorilla  de  San  Martin.  ( )ne 
of  his  sons  is  a priest  and  Dr.  Zorilla  himself  gives  much  time  to 
the  affairs  of  the  t hurch.  He  is  one  of  the  few  intellectuals  of 
the  continent  who  is  frankly  and  enthusiastically  a Catholic  and 
a su])porter  of  the  t hurch  as  it  exists  in  his  own  country.  'Fhere 
is  no  question  that  he  is  a pious  Christian  who  believes  earnestly 
in  his  Church  and  is  willing  to  sacrifice  for  it.  During  my  recent 
visit  at  his  study  he  excused  himself  twice  to  have  Imief  confer- 
ences with  priests,  who  came  to  considt  him  on  matters  of  the 
Church,  d'he  recent  loss  of  the  support  of  the  State  has  jmohahly 
made  men  like  Dr.  Zorilla  still  more  loyal  in  giving  personal  sup- 
port. 

In  Chile  the  reform  government  was  elected  on  a ])latform  which 
contained  a plank  demanding  the  separation  of  Church  and  State. 
The  fight  for  other  more  pressing,  if  not  more  important,  reforms 
and  the  very  close  balance  of  ])ower  between  Liberals  and  Con- 
servatives will  probably  prevent  this  issue  being  brought  up  in  the 
present  administration.  But  the  question  of  the  Church’s  power 
will  he  at  issue  in  almost  every  question  that  Congress  faces  in 
the  next  few  years.  The  Civil  Marriage  T.aw  has  just  been 
strengthenefi  l)y  a declaration  that  in  every  case,  the  civil  ceremony 
must  he  celebrated  first,  the  religious  ceremony  to  follow,  when 
de.sired. 

The  three  great  movements  toward  modern  life,  which  are 
now  most  prominent  in  Chile,  the  labor  movement,  the  tem- 
perance movement  and  the  feminist  movement,  are  all  full  of 

69 


dynamite  tor  the  Church.  And  no  one  is  so  aware  of  it  as  the 
hierarchy.  The  labor  movement,  of  course,  carries  with  its  attack 
on  all  predatory  interests  an  open  tight  on  the  Church,  which  is 
one  and  the  same  in  leadership  as  the  hundred  or  more  families 
of  the  aristocracy  which  have  ruled  Chile  in  the  past.  The  temper- 
ance movement,  supported  hy  labor  and  the  present  government, 
is  opposed  hy  the  Church  because,  for  one  reason,  it  has  extensive 
vineyards,  the  wines  from  which  contribute  largely  to  its  revenues. 
As  for  the  feminist  movement,  independence  of  women  would 
mean  the  losing  of  the  great  stronghold  of  the  Church,  which, 
in  the  past  has  held  fast  when  all  others  have  failed.  Since  the 
reform  government  favors  all  three  of  these  movements  which 
have  ramifications  running  into  every  problem  of  national  life, 
it  can  he  easily  seen  that  Chile  is  in  for  a very  severe  struggle 
around  the  Church  problem  during  the  next  few  years.  As  the 
clergy  in  that  country  has  been  of  the  highest  intellectual  and 
moral  order  of  anv  in  Latin  America,  and  the  influence  of  the 
Church  has  been  therefore  relatively  of  a high  order,  it  can  be 
seen  that  this  fight  will  be  of  more  than  national  interest. 

In  I’cru.  the  most  important  book  of  the  year  is  one  entitled 
"The  First  Century,"  with  the  sub-title  “Geographical,  Political 
and  Economic  Causes  That  Have  .\fifected  the  IMoral  and  Material 
Progress  of  Peru  in  the  I'irst  Century  of  Her  Independence.” 
It  is  a frank  and  enlightening  study  hv  Pedro  Davalos  y Lisson. 
In  his  chapter  on  religion,  the  author  speaks  first  of  how  the 
Church  has  fallen  from  its  ancient  glorv.  He  then  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  very  low  classes  from  which  the  priests  are  drawn 
today.  Since  the  C'hurch  lacks  its  former  prestige,  none  of  the 
best  families  wish  their  sons  to  enter  the  priesthood,  hence  only 
the  poorest,  from  the  interior  towns,  become  candidates.  “Those 
of  us  who  were  horn  under  Divine  favor  and  who  still  give  warmth 
in  our  hearts  to  the  beauties  and  sweetness  of  religion  .see  with 
deep  pain  the  way  that  this  spiritual  world  is  disappearing,”  says 
this  author,  a faithful  Catholic.  As  to  the  priests  in  the  country 
districts,  while  some  of  them  do  right,  most  of  them  are  only 
interested  in  enriching  themselves.  They  do  nothing  toward  the 
social  and  moral  betterment  of  the  Indians,  who  remain  in  the 
same  ignorance  and  superstitution  as  they  were  in  the  early 
colonial  davs. 

He  continues  as  follows;  “The  attacks  which  the  faithful  make 
on  their  own  priests  are  continual.  The  loss  of  a sacred  object. 


70 


the  removal  of  a picture  from  the  church,  or  the  removal  to  the 
sacristy  of  some  saint  that  had  a preferred  place  on  the  altar, 
causes  violent  outbreaks  on  the  part  of  the  believers,  which  cause 
the  priests  to  hide  themselves  or  seek  the  protection  of  the  civil 
authorities.  Certainly  the  faith  that  our  country  people  have  in 
their  priests’  honor  is  not  very  great,  since  they  attack  them  and 
treat  them  like  Church  roljbers,  whenever  anything  disappears  from 
the  Church. 

“There  is  little  to  say  about  the  labor  of  our  Peruvian  bishop. 
His  virtue  and  his  consecration  hnd  an  insuperalde  oljstacle  in 
the  spiritual  quality  of  his  sheep  and  the  ignorance  and  vulgarity 
of  a large  part  of  his  subordinates,  the  priests.  As  there  is  a 
great  scarcity  of  clergy  in  Peru  and  therefore  few  i>riests  who 
dispute  the  rights  to  a parish,  the  displacement  of  a priest  is  the 
most  dit'hcult  of  disciplines.  It  is  necessary  that  a cure  be  com- 
pletely lost  in  vice  before  he  is  dismissed.  What  do  the  bishops 
not  see  in  the  visits  of  inspection ! Wdrat  prudence  and  wisdom, 
what  patience  and  toleration  they  need  to  remedy  things,  when 
they  can  be  remedied  by  kind  and  indirect  means ! W hat  other 
proceedings  are  they  able  to  use  among  a people  brutalized  by 
alcohol,  fornication,  isolation,  laziness,  fanaticism  and  the  most 
complete  ignorance  of  the  evangelical  spirit? 

“If  the  major  part  of  our  bishops  are  given  to  fomenting  the 
prestige  of  the  Church,  there  are  not  lacking  those  who  are  high 
handed  and  fond  of  controversy  with  the  Protestants  and  Liberals, 
answering  them  from  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press.  The  evil 
results  and  the  scandal  caused  by  such  proceedings  are  evident. 
. . . These  fighting  bishops  still  excommunicate  their  mem- 

bers. This  exclusion,  which  generally  is  accompanied  by  severe 
orders  that  the  sacraments  be  withheld  from  those  expelled  from 
the  Church,  has  given  rise  to  disorders  wdiich  made  necessary 
the  use  of  the  police,  especially  when  the  fanatical  elements  have 
arisen  in  hostile  attitude  against  the  Indians  of  the  highlands  to 
exterminate  them  and  their  kinspeople  after  they  have  been  robbed 
of  their  possessions.  . . . While  such  things  occur  frequent- 

ly in  the  country,  in  Lima  it  may  be  said  there  are  no  saints.  Yet 
we  have  heard  the  fanatical  women  and  sacristans  assured  that 
in  the  Prado  Church  there  is  a crucified  Christ  that  continually 
sweats.” 

Peru  has  recently  passed  a law  concerning  civil  marriage  and 
divorce,  which  provides  for  the  imprisonment  of  the  clergyman 


71 


who  performs  a marriage  without  5)reviou^ly  demanding  the  civil 
certificate.  This  law  was  of  course  greatly  opposed  by  the 
hierarchy.  j 

Yet  the  Church  occupies  at  present  a stronger  position  political- 
ly than  it  has  done  for  years.  The  most  prominent  representative 
of  clericalism  in  Pent  has  been  recently  appointed  president  of  the 
Chaml)er  of  Deputies,  and  the  President  of  the  republic  is  a strong 
conservative  who  has  already  shown  signal  favors  to  the  Church. 
Among  other  things  he  vetoed  the  new  divorce  law  referred  to 
above,  and  modified  in  the  interests  of  clerical  education  the  orig- 
inal draft  of  the  new  law  of  instruction.  While  it  is  the  case 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  so  menacingly  strong  political- 
ly, there  are  absolutely  no  signs  of  any  renewed  spiritual  vigor 
within  the  pale  of  the  native  Peruvian  Church.  In  a recent  conver- 
sation with  an  Augustinian  friar  he  declared  that  there  was  no  such 
thing  in  Peru  as  truly  spiritual  life  or  conviction,  that  the  apparent 
devotion  to  the  Church  was  nothing  more  than  a mixture  of  tra- 
dition and  social  convenience.  It  is  affirmed  on  the  testimony 
of  some  of  the  most  impartial  and  thoughtful  Peruvians  that  the 
present  dearth  in  Peru  of  outstanding  public  leaders  of  a robust 
liberal  type,  men  willing  to  sacrifice  everything  for  their  prin- 
ci])!es,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  present  generation  of  politicians 
and  literary  men  has  been  educated  almost  exclusively  in  clerical 
institutions.  It  is  a strange  fact  that  the  special  ambassador  sent 
by  the  Argentine  to  represent  that  republic  on  the  occasion  of  the 
recent  centennial  celebrations  in  Peru  should  be  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Archbishop  of  Buenos  Aires. 

The  Church’s  power  is  shown  in  different  ways.  A young 
Peruvian  who  recently  graduated  from  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin, on  returning  to  Lima  wdth  his  new  ideas,  started  a paper 
for  children,  probably  the  first  one  of  the  kind  ever  published  in 
that  country.  It  was  immediately  recognized  by  parents  and 
teachers  as  a most  important  help  in  the  dei^elopment  of  the 
children.  But  it  was  printed  at  an  evangelical  shop.  This  was 
sufficient  for  the  Church’s  disapproval.  Although  the  priest 
assigned  to  the  matter  admitted  that  there  was  nothing  about  the 
paper  that  was  sectarian,  and  that  its  articles  all  had  a good 
moral  and  spiritual  tone,  the  paper  must  be  killed.  And  killed  it 
was.  One  of  the  three  women  in  Peru  who  believe  sufficiently  in 
the  emancipation  of  women  to  advocate  the  matter  in  public,  is 
struggling  along  with  a little  school  where  she  trains  girls  to 


72 


make  hats,  dresses  and  other  tilings  to  give  them  economic  inde- 
pendence. as  well  as  giving  them  a modern  intellectual  develop- 
ment. But  because  she  refuses  to  let  the  priest  come  and  give 
religious  instruction,  and  will  not  take  her  girls  to  mass,  she  is 
dei)rived  of  help,  and  is  obliged  to  pay  the  extra  expenses  for  the 
school  out  of  her  own  small  income  from  her  family.  Some  little 
time  ago  the  priests,  knowing  of  her  influence,  offered  to  make 
her  the  director  of  a paper  for  women,  give  her  a modern  press, 
and  assure  her  of  an  income  of  $5CX)  per  month,  if  she  would  put 
in  the  editorials  they  brought  to  her  already  written.  She  refused 
to  lie  a parti'  to  any  transaction  that  would  not  give  her  freedom 
to  express  her  liberal  ideas.  The  Minister  of  Instruction  has  just 
offered  her  the  directorship  of  one  of  the  big  Girls’  Normal 
.Schools.  At  first  she  thought  she  must  accept.  But  afterward  she 
realized  that  this  would  mean  that  her  own  little  school  would 
then  have  to  close,  and  she  herself  w’ould  have  to  allow  the  priests 
to  come  to  the  government  school,  under  her  direction,  and  give 
religious  instruction.  If  she  resisted,  as  she  would  he  compelled 
to  do.  she  would  have  the  Church  against  her  and  most  prob- 
ably lie  discharged.  Again  she  decided  to  stay  with  her  own  little 
school  and  fight  the  tremendous  opposition  of  the  Church,  which  is 
able  to  cut  off  all  her  support  except  the  little  she  gets  from  the 
]}oor  girls  who  attend  the  school  and  the  amount  she  herself  can 
put  into  it. 

As  has  been  said  elsewhere:  “Peru  will  find  as  other  Latin 
American  countries  have  found,  that  they  cannot  go  far  in  de- 
veloping any  kind  of  democratic  life  till  they  liav.'^  an  open  fight 
with  the  Church  to  compel  her  to  keep  her  hands  out  of  politics. 
Just  as  Lincoln  said,  that  it  is  impossible  for  a people  to  live  half 
slave  and  half  free,  so  it  is  impossible  for  a nation  to  have  political 
liberty  and  ecclesiastical  domination.  Peru  is  still  too  saturated 
with  the  Jesuitical  spirit  in  Church  and  State  to  have  produced 
the  leaders  necessary  to  construct  a reallv  honest,  conservatively 
liberal  regime.  With  such  a wonderful  history  and  such  a long 
line  of  brilliant  men,  with  such  a splendid  list  of  idealists,  Peru 
is  coming  to  the  celebration  of  the  centenary  of  her  independence 
with  a realization  that  she  has  few  actual  accomplishments  to 
celebrate.  It  is  a sad  situation.  For  one  will  find  no  more  lovable, 
no  more  idealistic,  no  more  brilliant  and  attractive  people  anvwhere 
than  are  the  Peruvians.  As  friends,  as  traveling  companions,  as 
members  of  an  intellectual  circle,  as  Don  Quijotes,  ready  to  issue 


73 


forth  to  help  the  weak,  their  superiors  are  not  to  be  found.  But 
the  dynamic  is  not  there.  In  this  hundredth  year  of  Peruvian 
independence,  with  all  their  great  political,  social,  economic,  edu- 
cational and  spiritual  problems  before  them,  there  does  not  seem 
to  he  one  man  who  towers  above  the  multitude  like  the  Apostle 
Paul,  and  says  ‘I  can  do  things.’  For  there  is  not  one  of  Peru’s 
great  men  that  would  think  of  saying  ‘through  Christ,  who 
strengtheneth  me.’  Peru’s  Christ  is  a dead  Christ.  It  is  the 
‘Sweating  Image’  that  is  carried  in  a casket,  weak,  defeated,  cry- 
ing for  pity.” 

The  objections  of  well  balanced  liberals  of  South  America  is 
fairly  summed  up  in  the  following  words  of  Agustin  Alvarez, 
often  called  the  Emerson  of  South  America,  and  probably  the  most 
influential  moral  philosopher  the  continent  has  produced: 

“This  liberal  Protestantism,  leaving  to  man  his  aptitude  and 
amplitude  for  lay  progress,  has  formed  the  colonizing  races  which, 
by  their  greater  resources  dominating  nature  and  exploiting  the 
soil,  have  enriched  and  extended  themselves  to  all  continents.  In 
the  same  way  Catholicism,  repudiating  profane  science,  and  cap- 
tured by  attention  to  public  worship,  has  separated  the  best  energies 
of  man,  has  withdrawn  him  from  im|;roved  means  of  agriculture, 
commerce  and  industry,  from  personal  cleanliness  and  public 
sanitation,  from  earthly  justice  and  civil  morality. 

“The  Metropolis  did  us  greater  harm  by  prohibiting  in  America 
the  cultivation  of  ideas  and  the  sentiments  of  tolerance  than  it  did 
us  by  prohibiting  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  and  the  olive.  If  the 
primary  cause  of  the  progress  of  man  is  the  thought  of  man  which 
modifies  his  sentiments  and  forms  his  character,  a man  limits  his 
progress  in  the  degree  to  which  he  limits  his  thought.  So  the 
fundamental  cause  of  the  backwardness  of  Spanish  America,  and 
of  Spain  itself  was,  and  is  yet,  the  restriction  of  thought  by  an 
absurd  religion. 

“The  spirit  cultivated  by  one  idea  only,  like  the  field  sown  with 
only  one  seed,  cannot  produce  more  than  one  kind  of  fruit,  one 
kind  of  ideas  and  sentiments,  the  same  that  have  been  sown.  The 
Disciple  of  the  Jesuit,  with  one  side  of  his  spirit  filled  with  narrow 
ideas,  and  the  other  empty ; with  lights  aglow  and  lights  prohibited, 
is  like  a nun,  the  nun  with  a lean  spirit,  half  in  darkness  and  half 
in  superstition — as  Renan  defines  her,  ‘Very  religious,  and  at  the 
same  time  very  little  instructed,  consequently  very  superstitious.’ 


74 


A mule  with  an  unbalanced  load,  which  leans  constantly  to  the  side 
of  the  greater  weight,  finally  leaves  the  road,  and  strikes  across 
the  country.  Thus  the  political  or  religious  sectarian,  unbalanced 
by  his  one-sided  provision  of  ideas,  abandoning  the  right  road, 
traversing  foreign  territory,  is  comparable  to  intellectual  mules 
unevenly  loaded  with  good  and  bad  ideas.  Thus  narrow  and 
superstitious  Catholicism,  the  open  enemy  of  profane  science, 
and  the  advocate  of  lay  ignorance,  develops  a spirit  incapable  of 
self-government,  because  it  is  educated  in  dogmatic  intolerance 
and  spiritual  slavery,  which  are  the  spiritual  father  and  mother  of 
this  Spanish  perverseness  which  we  knew  in  1810  and  the  Cubans 
knew  in  1900.  In  the  same  way  liberal  Protestantism  develops 
those  spirits  with  self-rule,  tolerant  in  action  because  they  are 
educated  to  be  tolerant  in  thought.” 

Strictures  of  this  kind  are  among  the  influences  that  are  bringing 
about  a decided  reaction  in  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  South  America.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  how  far  the  re- 
actionary movements  in  the  different  South  American  countries  are 
part  of  a thought-out  plan  on  the  part  of  the  Papal  authorities  to 
regain  absolute  spiritual  and  political  domination  in  these  coun- 
tries. I can  only  speak  for  what  I know  is  taking  place  in  Peru,  or 
rather  indicate  certain  facts  that  appear  to  be  symptomatic  of  a 
definite  policy. 

One  of  the  most  significant  facts  in  the  religious  life  of  Lima 
is  the  activity  of  a group  of  French  priests  of  the  order  of  La 
Recoleta — an  order  founded  shortly  after  the  French  Revolution, — 
whose  aim  has  been  to  take  a practical  interest  in  the  social  prob- 
lems of  the  community.  It  appears  that,  as  a result  of  the  clos- 
ing of  the  monasteries  in  France  some  twenty  years  ago,  a wave 
of  new  life  passed  over  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  that  coun- 
try, The  watchword  of  the  new  movement  became  “Action,” 
and  a supreme  effort  has  been  made  to  win  the  youth  of  France 
for  the  Church.  In  recent  years  the  movement  has  become  in- 
tensified and  two  of  its  most  interesting  phases  are,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  publication  of  apologetic  works  in  defense  of  orthodox 
views  of  the  Scriptures  and  fundamental  Church  doctrines;  and, 
on  the  other,  a supreme  emphasis  upon  simple  evangelical  doc- 
trines, such  as,  “The  Life  in  Jesus  Christ.”  Some  of  the  organs 
of  this  movement  are : “Revue  des  Jeunes,”  “Revue  Pratique  D’ 
Apologetique,”  and  “Les  Cahiers.”  So  far  as  one  can  learn  not 


only  have  many  of  the  finest  youth  of  France  been  won  hut  not 
a few  prominent  literary  men,  who  have  definitely  embraced  a 
religious  life. 

I have  not  been  able  to  find  out  just  how  far  this  movement  is 
afifecting  South  American  Catholicism  in  general.  The  follow- 
ing facts,  however,  are  significant;  the  group  of  French  priests 
alluded  to  founded  in  1918  the  Catholic  University  of  Peru;  they 
have  recently  begun  to  publish  a weekly  pamphlet  called  “Catholic 
Action”;  under  their  auspices  lectures  have  been  given  at  different 
times  on  social  and  religious  problems ; and  a few  months  ago  a 
special  course  of  apologetics  for  women  was  inaugurated  in  the 
Catholic  University.  It  is  also  worth  while  observing  that  a num- 
ber of  the  leading  writers  of  the  new  generation  today,  such  as, 
the  brothers  Garcia  Calderon  were  educated  by  priests.  There 
can  he  little  doubt  that  it  is  only  a matter  of  time  until  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  France  will  begin  an  active  campaign  in  the 
New  World.  Wdiether  it  has  a strong  enough  dynamic  ever  to 
galvanize  the  Catholicism  of  South  America,  with  its  encrusta- 
tions of  creolian  superstitions,  is  a debatable  question.  Rut  one 
thing  is  certain  that  South  America  will  become  a chosen  mis- 
sion field  for  progressive  French  Catholicism,  and  the  battlefield 
where  the  dogmatic  conflict  of  ages  as  to  the  relative  spiritual 
claims  of  Romanism  and  Evangelicalism  must  he  decided  prag- 
matically; and  surely  no  true  Christian  who  prays  “Thy  King- 
dom come,”  can  he  indiflferent  as  regards  the  issue  of  the  con- 
flict. 

ITie  Moral  Situation 

I he  lack  of  interest  in  the  moral  question  is  one  of  the  most 
discouraging  things  in  South  American  life.  The  dean  of  a law 
school  recently  declared  that  the  faculty  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  moral  life  of  the  student.  In  fact  the  universities  take  no 
official  cognizance  of  the  moral  life  of  the  student  body.  There 
is  no  directory  kept  of  the  students  and  the  faculty  have  no  idea 
where  they  live  or  what  kind  of  lives  they  lead  outside  the  class 
room.  There  are  no  dormitories.  Students  from  out  of  town 
may  live  in  a boarding  house  or  may  club  together  with  other 
students  in  unsupervised  quarters  wdiich  too  often  have  women 
connected  with  them,  or  they  may  live  in  anv  wav.  attending 
classes  or  not  as  they  may  see  fit.  So  long  as  they  present  them- 
selves for  examination,  no  questions  are  asked.  There  are.  of 
course,  notable  exceptions  to  this  rule,  institutions  in  which  indi- 

76 


vicinal  pnife.ssor>  and  officers  of  a university  take  a personal  in- 
terest in  the  lives  of  the  students.  Where  this  is  the  case  the 
young  men  have  been  splendidly  responsive. 

The  se.xual  problem  among  the  students  is,  of  course,  most 
difficult.  Fortunately  there  is  noticeable  here  and  there  an  awak- 
ening on  this  subject  among  the  government  medical  and  educa- 
tional authorities.  An  Argentine  sociologist  has  recently  put  the 
case  of  the  youth  and  hi,->  father  in  this  way : “Fathers  desire  to 
make  their  boys  ‘men’  at  an  early  age.  In  place  of  prolonging 
their  innocence  and  their  indifference  to  sexual  matters  they  do 
all  they  can  to  develoj)  them.  Jloys  of  twelve  are  dressed  in  long 
trousers,  taught  the  \ile  language  of  the  street,  instructed  how 
to  act  in  certain  situations  with  women,  familiarized  with  vice 
through  conversation  and  example,  and  finallv  are  directly  en- 
couraged toward  it  by  the  introduction  of  young  girl  servants 
into  the  house,  the  oliject  of  which  is  made  clear,  'bhis  is  the 
e.xplanation  of  the  singular  jmecocity  of  our  youth.  At  fifteen 
to  eighteen  years  of  age  they  have  nothing  more  to  learn.” 

The  vices  of  gamliling  and  drinking  arc  shown  bv  statistics, 
in  those  countries  where  obtainable,  to  be  greatlv  on  the  increase. 
In  Buenos  Aires  the  amount  wagered  on  horse  racing  rose  from 
$27,474,626  in  1901  to  $120, 824, ,109  in  191,1,  (.\rgentine  pesos). 
The  lottery  in  Argentina  sold  tickets  amounting  to  $1,000, 000 
in  189,1.  and  to  $.18,175,000  in  191,5.  In  the  .same  wav  criminal 
cases  grew  in  Buenos  .\ires  from  0.273  in  1900,  to  14,984  in  1913. 
All  of  these  increases  are  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  growth 
of  the  })opulation  in  the  periods  mentioned. 

In  Uruguay  an  extensive  study  of  alcoholism  has  recentlv  l)een 
made  by  the  Director  of  iMunicipal  .Statistics,  Dr.  Juaquin  de 
Salterain,  in  which  he  says  that  there  are  10,000  places  in  the 
republic  where  liquor  is  sold,  ,5,000  in  the  capital  and  7,000  in  the 
rural  districts.  This  makes  one  drinking  place  foi  every  128 
people.  I'rance  alone  surpassing  this  record  with  one  for  each  72 
inhabitants.  Germany  has  one  for  every  246  people.  England 
one  for  every  4,50,  and  Switzerland  one  for  everv  5,000. 

Referring  to  another  moral  problem.  Agustin  .Alvarez  says: 
“Sarmiento  said  that  the  greatest  evil  of  .Argentina  was  its  great 
extent.  But  railroads  have  eliminated  this  evil  and  unified  the 
country.  'I'oday  the  evil  which  besets  the  Republic  is  the  lie. 
and  it  is  necessary  to  work  without  rest  to  emancipate  us  from 


77 


this  detestable  South  American  institution,  three-fourths  Indian 
and  four-fourths  barbarian.”  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting 
to  note  the  phrase  used  commonly  to  assure  the  truth  of  a statement 
or  to  emphasize  being  on  time  for  an  appointment  “palabra  de 
ingles,”  and  “Jiora  ingles,”  meaning  “word  of  an  Englishman” 
and  “English  hour.” 

The  Director  of  the  National  Libraryof  Peru, Dr.  Deustua,  says: 

“Spain  conquered  Peru  only  to  enrich  herself,  organizing  a 
colony  in  which  all,  absolutely  all,  looked  toward  this  end.  . . . 
When  we  attained  our  political  liberty,  the  leaders  of  the  Republic, 
without  preparation  for  political  life  directly  opposite  to  that  of 
the  colony,  without  force  to  create  new  forms  of  life,  without 
other  models  than  those  offered  by  Spain,  continued  the  same 
utilitarian  regime  which  had  originated  all  the  disasters  of  our 
national  life.  Morality,  true  morality,  has  not  reigned  in  the 
higher  circles,  and  the  country,  which  needs  a heroic  and  continual 
struggle  to  grow  into  a real  entity,  free  from  the  past,  has  swung 
from  dictator  to  reyolution.  which  haye  engendered  reciprocally  the 
same  political  evils.  This  is  why  we  find  ourselves  today  stripped 
of  real  civilization — not  because  we  find  ourselves  without  power- 
ful industries,  exploited  a thousand  times  by  commerce,  but  be- 
cause we  find  ourselves  without  the  moral  power  necessary  to 
organize  ourselves  and  govern  ourselves  as  a free  people.” 

In  matters  of  pure  culture  there  is  probably  no  country  in 
America  that  excels  Peru.  But  poetry  and  philosophy  and  belles 
leftres  have  failed  to  ediwate  the  Indian,  fell  the  forests,  Iwidge  the 
rivers,  liuild  railroads  or  create  a body  politic  fit  for  self-govern- 
ment and  self -development.  This  has  become  so  evident  to  the 
Peruvians  that  it  has  become  an  obsession  with  them.  As  Sr. 
Pedro  Davilas  y Lisson  says ; “Einfortunately  our  pessimism  is 
everywhere  in  evidence.  Lamentation  is  the  fashion,  not  the  old 
men  but  the  youthful  constituting  the  great  majority  of  the  alarm- 
ists. The  spirit  of  depression  in  which  the  young  men  live  is  so 
great,  their  enthusiasm  is  so  suppressed,  they  find  so  few  disposed 
to  struggle  and  so  many  incapacitated  to  work  for  a great  and 
prosperous  Peru  that  they  themselves  have  no  dreams,  no  faith 
in  their  own  power.” 

Dr.  Javier  Prado,  rector  of  San  Marcos,  a scholar  of  the  first 
order,  and  the  owner  of  the  finest  private  museum  that  it  has  ever 


78 


been  niv  privilege  tu  see  in  aim  part  of  the  world,  recently  said : 
“Peru  after  having  been  the  seat  of  most  wonderful  civilizations, 
a center  of  government  and  of  opulence  during  the  Spanish  dom- 
ination, has  not  developed  during  the  hundred  years  of  her 
autonomy  in  any  adecpiate  way  her  sources  of  natural  vitality  and 
economic  well-being ; nor  in  the  social  and  iiolitical  order  has  she 
formed  a vigorous  and  organized  national  life  corresponding  to 
the  greatness  of  her  past  and  to  the  progress  obtained  by  other 
American  jieoples.  Moral  energies  have  been  suiipressed.  Spir- 
itual oxygen  is  lacking  in  the  environment  of  a people  who  so 
frequently  show  themselves  sick  in  thought  and  sick  in  will.” 

Dr.  Manuel  Cornejo,  a well-known  statesman,  says:  “The 
Peruvians  are  a sick  people.  This  is  revealed  by  all  their  history, 
which  shows  chronic  disturbance.  And  this  continuous  upheaval 
cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  disorder  of  growth.  For  in  Peru,  un- 
like other  South  American  countries,  we  have  a regressive  evo- 
lution ; We  were  more,  now  we  are  less ; they  were  less,  now  they 
are  more." 

A remarkable  book  recently  brought  to  my  attention  is  " Moral 
para  I ntcUcctualcs,"  written  by  Carlos  Vaz  b'erreira,  the  professor 
of  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Montevideo.  It  consists  of  a 
series  of  lectures  given  to  the  students  of  his  class  in  the  university, 
printed  in  the  delightfully  informal  way  in  which  he  presented 
them.  “Among  the  possible  moral  books,”  says  this  exemplary 
man,  who  is  evidently  intensely  interested  in  the  moral  life  of 
his  students,  “is  one  that  some  day  I would  like  to  write  on  ‘Morals 
for  Intellectuals.’  F'or  moral  questions  assume  a very  specihc 
character  for  those  who  follow  the  different  professions;  first, 
because  every  environment  has  different  moral  problems  and, 
second,  because  the  more  highly  developed  the  intelligence,  the 
greater  and  more  complicated  become  the  moral  prolilems.  This 
lK)ok  would  follow  these  fundamental  lines:  First  it  would  con- 
sider the  .special  i)roblems  created  by  the  intellectual  life  and  then 
it  would  pursue  the  practical  object  of  clarifying  moral  prin- 
ciples alreafly  admitted  rather  than  attempt  the  creating  of  new 
ones.” 

The  first  theme  that  Prof.  F'erreira  treats  in  these  practical  dis- 
cussions with  his  students  is  the  need  of  a broad  culture.  He 
goes  into  the  matter  of  the  evils  of  the  examination  system,  which 
compel  the  student  to  think  of  getting  over  a certain  amount  of 
ground,  rather  than  of  comprehending  certain  principles,  thus 


79 


creating  a tendency  to  look  at  the  outward  and  not  at  the  inward 
prohleins  of  life  as  those  of  most  importance.  In  order  to  have 
a broad  culture  the  student  should  not  only  study  his  texts,  but 
should  read  a certain  number  of  books  suggested.  A list  of  thirty 
is  given  with  the  suggestion  that  the  students  might  acquire  them 
as  a common  library  and  read  an  average  of  five  each  year,  thus 
completing  the  thirty  as  they  complete  their  university  course. 
The  following  books  are  listed  l)y  the  professor.  He  says  that 
they  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  thirty  “greatest”  hooks,  since 
any  such  arl)itrary  selection  would  be  ridiculous. 

Guyau ; Irreligion  of  the  Future;  Art  from  the  Sociological 
Poinc  of  View ; English  Contemporary  Morality ; Problems  of 
Ethics ; Outline  of  a Moral  System  Without  C)bligation  or  Sanc- 
tion ; Education  and  Heredity. 

Fouillee:  History  of  Philosophy;  Reform  of  the  Teaching  of 
Philosophy;  Morality. 

Hoifdings:  Ethics;  History  of  Modern  Philosophy;  Contem- 
porary Philosophers. 

W'illiam  James:  Principles  of  Psychology;  Varieties  of  Re- 
ligious Experience. 

rtadot : Life  of  Pasteur. 

i^.Iills:  Studies  on  Religion;  Logic. 

Bereson:  Creative  Evolution. 

O 

Paul  de  .Saint  Victor : Men  and  Gods. 

Anatole  France : Carden  of  Epicurus ; Literary  Criticism. 

The  Four  Gospels. 

Payot:  Education  of  the  Will. 

Montaigne:  Essays. 

Rodo : Ariel. 

One  who  studies  this  list  of  hooks  will  make  several  interesting 
discoveries.  First  he  will  note  the  overwhelming  predominance  of 
French  writers,  nine  out  of  fourteen.  Most  of  these  French 
authors  are  at  least  well  enough  known  to  us  to  realize  that  they 
are  far  from  breathing  that  warm  evangelical  faith  with  which 
we  should  like  to  have  our  young  men  come  in  contact.  The 
United  .States,  England  and  Germany  are  each  represented  by 
one  author.  Only  the  one  from  the  United  States  can  be  classed 
as  having  “religious  tendencies.”  Only  one  of  the  authors  is  a 
South  American,  Rodo  of  Uruguay.  He  preached  a kind  of 
glorified  combination  of  Hellenism  and  Christianity  as  the  ideal 


80 


religion  needed  by  the  Latin  American  youth,  who  must  guard 
against  North  American  materialism  and  develop  an  idealist  cul- 
ture. 

No  doubt  Professor  Ferreira  would  have  referred  to  books  in 
a class  with  “Rational  Living,”  by  Henry  Churchill  King,  if  such 
existed  in  Spanish ; but  they  do  not.  In  a report  rendered  to  the 
Second  Continental  Convention  of  the  \ . M.  C.  A,  of  South 
America  is  the  following  statement;  "In  reference  to  the  read- 
ing of  religious  books,  it  may  be  said  that  practically  there  are 
few  such  books,  'ihere  are  no  modern  religious  books  of  positive 
value,  either  krotesLaur  or  varnolic.  iiiose  wuich  tne  cuurches 
have  published  have  been  generally  a defense  of  tneir  own  creeds. 
The  works  of  moralists  which  exist  in  bpanisn  are  translations. 
The  moral  ideas  of  young  men  are  those  they  find  in  their  sur- 
roundings, without  any  etfort  at  changing  them.  There  are  cer- 
tain writers  such  as  Alvarez.  Leyret,  Rodo,  etc.,  who  have  en- 
deavored to  change  the  atmosphere,  calling  attention  to  other 
aspects  of  life,  especially  the  moral,  but  their  efforts  have  been 
isolated  and  have  not  formed  at  all  a school  of  thought  follov/ing 
the  moral  point  of  view.” 

The  list  of  preferred  authors  writing  on  moral  topics  made  up 
by  readers  in  Argentina  is  as  follows:  French;  Ribot.  Bergson, 
Boutroux,  Roussea,  Renouvein;  English:  Spencer,  klills,  Bain 
imeke;  German:  Schopenhauer.  Flegel,  Frichte,  Kant.  Wunt, 
Nietzche;  Italian:  Ordigo,  Vico,  Croce;  American:  William  James. 

The  rector  of  an  Argentine  university  recently  said:  “Ten  thou- 
sand people  do  the  thinking  for  Argentina.  There  may  lie  a hun- 
dred thousand  who  read  French  novels,  but  the  reading  of  serious 
works  is  very  limited.”  The  number  of  publications  in  Buenos 
Aires,  however,  is  stupendous,  as  can  be  readily  seen  by  glancing 
at  one  of  the  newsstands  found  on  nearly  every  corner  in  the  city. 
Even  in  1910  in  the  province  of  Buenos  Aires  there  were  I'd, 229 
publications,  including  forty-six  dailies. 

The  awakening  of  public  officials  to  their  responsibility  in  the 
matter  of  reading  is  seen,  if  faintly,  in  the  following  words  from 
the  message  of  a mayor  of  Buenos  Aires : “The  municipality  is 
a factor  of  civilization.  As  such  it  should  encourage  all  pro- 
gressive social  movements  and  discourage  retrogressive  move- 
ments of  vice,  gambling  and  waste  of  time.  If  for  this  reason  we 
encourage  sport  and  the  physical  develojiment  of  the  people,  it  is 


81 


of  no  less  importance  that  we  foster  jaiblic  libraries  as  centers  for 
intellectual  diversion.” 

In  this  message  the  mayor  a.sks  for  the  sum  of  50,000  pesos,  of 
which  20,000  is  for  the  formation  of  “university  extension”  libra- 
ries and  16,000  for  twenty  children's  libraries.  He  announces  that 
there  are  now  in  the  city  thirty  public  libraries  containing  336,436 
volumes.  These  had  last  year  173,682  readers  and  85,555  books 
loaned  for  home  use.  Certainly  this  is  not  a good  showing  for  a 
city  of  nearly  two  million  people. 

Keturning  to  the  lectures  of  Professor  Ferreira,  we  find  that 
they  are  largely  taken  up  with  the  moral  problems  of  the  lawyer, 
the  physician,  the  journalist  and  the  public  official.  The  difficult 
moral  situation  in  wdiich  each  one  of  these  professions  places  men 
is  clearly  and  sympathetically  treated.  The  inheritances  of  ages 
which  iiermeate  the  atmosphere  surrounding  these  professions  with 
untruth  and  misrepresentation  are  clearly  stated  and  adherence  to 
moral  principles  demanded.  .Vnyone  who  wishes  to  understand 
the  moral  stress  under  which  the  professional  classes  live  will 
here  find  it  gra]»hically  described.  f)f  course  the  temptations  of 
a lawyer  or  a physician  in  South  America  are  shown  to  he  much 
what  thev  are  in  Horth  America  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
6’et  it  is  very  clear  that  these  professions  have  not  advanced  as 
far  in  liberating  themselves  from  these  professional  sins,  and 
that  they  are  far  more  a matter  of  common  acceptance  in  South 
America  than  in  Anglo-Saxon  countries.  The  ease  with  which 
common  jihrases  are  given  ancl  accepted  in  cases  where  each  of 
the  ])arties  knows  they  are  not  true,  is  astonishing. 

.\  higher  morality  than  is  held  uj)  by  Professor  Ferreira  could 
not  he  found  in  anv  treatment  of  ethics  written  by  an  Anglo-Saxon 
evangelical.  W’e  would  naturally  suppose  that  the  author  would 
place  emphasis  upon  what  we  consider  the  basis  of  the  highest 
morality — Christirmitv.  Not  so;  religion  to  him  is  of  such  minor 
importance  that  he  onlv  gives  ten  pages  of  his  two  hundred  to  the 
consideration  of  ‘'systems  of  morality."  one  of  which,  says  the 
professor,  is  Christianity; 

“Is  it  mv  hope,  and  in  general  is  it  desirable,  that  each  one,  in 
order  to  get  the  best  moral  results,  should  adoi')t  a certain  moral 
system  ? I think  not.  Really  all  my  endeavors  in  this  class,  into 
which  I have  i)ut  such  devotion,  have  tended  to  show  that  the  im- 
portant thing  is  not  to  adopt  a school  of  thought  hut  a state  of 
spirit Vlthough  it  is  not  necessary  to  select  any  moral 

82 


SA’stem.  we  will  sav  Irankl}'.  in  outline,  what  we  think  of  the 
principal  ones,  which  are  the  systems  of  religion,  of  metaphysics 
and  of  positivism.  I have  already,  in  other  courses  of  lectures, 
endeavored  to  describe  the  good  and  had  practices  of  religious 
systems.  Here  I only  wish  to  insist,  and  without  desire  to  force 
mv  attitude  on  vou.  hut  simplv  to  comply  most  frankly  with  dut}', 
on  the  following  point : We  always  distinguish  the  different  effect 
of  religion  on  the  actions  first,  on  flie  humhle  and  uneducated,  and 
second,  on  the  more  cultured  classes.  With  rspect  to  the  com- 
mon argument  that  religion  is  a bridle  or  restraint  for  the  simple 
minded.  I onlv  express  my  contempt.  iMany  jieople  consider 
themselves  without  the  need  of  religion,  hut  believe  the  great 
majority  need  it  not  to  sin — or  in  order  not  to  he  dangerous.  This 
is  simplv  the  lowest  kind  of  a theory,  hut  it  has  its  counteqiart 
in  a much  more  subtle  one.  Renan,  for  instance,  does  not  lielieve 
personally  in  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but  says  that  the  belief  will 
always  persist.  This  is  an.  aristocracy  not  to  mv  liking,  this  divid- 
ing the  world  in  two  parts,  first  myself  and  a few  others  who  can 
arrive  at  my  elevated  plane  of  thought,  and  second  the  world  of 
sinners. 

“In  regard  to  the  restraining  effect  of  religion  on  the  masses, 
there  is  probable  exaggeration  l)oth  on  the  side  of  those  who  be- 
lieve that  religion  restrains  people  from  evil  actions  and  also  on 
the  side  of  those  who  believe  that  religion  tends  to  keep  peojjle  in 
degradation  and  ignorance.  Generally  what  hap])ens  to  men  of 
little  education  and  little  morality  is  that  they  keep  their  religion 
in  one  place  and  their  morality,  good  or  had,  in  another  place. 

“I  will  cite  an  example.  W hen  our  first  child  was  horn,  the 
physician  obliged  me  to  secure  a wet  nurse  for  it  and  the  nurse’s 
child  was  left  with  another  family.  One  day  I heard  that  the 
nurse’s  child  was  very  ill.  On  calling,  I found  the  familv  that 
was  paid  to  take  care  of  it  was  absolutely  indifferent,  had  done 
nothing  to  relieve  it  and  had  not  even  called  a doctor.  I took  the 
baby  to  my  own  home  and  cared  for  it,  but  in  spite  of  all  that 
could  1)e  done  the  hahy  died.  Then  the  couple  from  whose  neglect 
the  child  had  died  came  to  my  home  and  created  a disgraceful 
scene.  Why?  Why,  because  the  mother  was  about  to  bury  the 
baby  without  bai)tism ! Now  I do  not  believe  that  these  people 
were  hypocrites.  It  was  simply  their  religion  had  had  little  moral 
effect,  either  good  or  bad. 

“Let  us  look  at  the  religion  of  the  intellectuals,  or  the  higher 


83 


forms  of  the  positive  religions,  at  least  the  forms  called  higher. 
Among  the  intellectuals  who  still  remain  afflicted  with  positive  re- 
ligions there  is  a much  more  liberal  spirit.  This  lilieral  spirit  has 
come  to  be  ])racticaHy  the  official  attitude  in  certain  religions  which 
are  reputed  to  lie  higher,  such  as  Protestantism,  which  admits  free- 
dom of  thought,  and  tlie  Modernist  movement  in  the  Catholic 
Church. 

“Really  I feel  that,  intellectually  as  well  as  morally,  the  forms 
of  religion  as  they  are  manifested  among  simple  people  are  less 
harmful  than  those  so-called  superior  forms.  The  form  in  which 
a dogmatic  religion  may  he  practically  sujterior  is  when  it  consists 
in  a simple  faith,  absolutely  simple  and  without  complications, 
intellectual  or  moral.  . . . The  adaptations  and  conciliations 

which  men  endeavor  to  make  l:)etween  primitive  religions  and  ad- 
vanced morality  anal  psychology  result  in  producing  psychological 
conditions  which  luring  about  most  evil  results. 

“Let  me  explain.  Suppose  I open  the  Bible,  which  for  me  is 
a historical  and  moral  monument.  In  this  spirit  I can  read  it  and 
feel  a deep  respect  for  certain  institutions  and  persons  without 
su|!pressing  indignation  and  repugnance  for  others.  But  suppo.se 
a person  as  educated  as  I opens  the  Bible  believing  that  it  is  divinely 
ins]')ired.  Let  us  see  what  happens,  intellectually  and  moralty. 

“First,  intellectually : Take  Genesis  or  any  other  part  that  offers 
explanations  of  scientific  matters  and  one  sees,  what  primitive  and 
false  ideas  are  there.  M'hat  does  the  educated  person  do?  He 
manul  actures  sophistries  and  juggles  his  reason  in  order  to  explain 
that  which  is  unexplainable.  While  the  liberal  spirit  will  not  be 
damaged  l)’v’  the  ingenious  primitive  explanations,  the  one  who 
believes  in  its  divinitv  has  to  falsify  his  reason : ‘Days  are  not  days, 
l)nt  geological  epochs ; the  light  here  is  not  that  of  the  sun,  but  a 
diffused  light;  that  which  detained  it  was  the  earth,  etc.’  The  im- 
mediate result  of  these  harmful  mental  gymnastics  is  to  shake 
the  intelligence  from  its  rectitude. 

“But  in  the  moral  field  is  where  the  result  is  the  worst.  I 
open  the  Bible,  for  example,  at  the  history  of  Abraham.  Abra- 
ham, on  going  to  a foreign  countr}-,  ordered  Sarah  to  deny 
that  she  was  his  wife  and  pass  as  his  sister,  which  resulted 
in  the  kings’  taking  Sarah  as  their  concubine  and  enriching’ 
.Abraham  with  many  ‘cattle,  asses  and  camels.’  If  we  read 
this  in  a liberal  spirit  it  will  not  do  us  any  more  harm  than 


84 


the  narration  of  any  other  immoral  act.  But  suppose  a per- 
son reads  it  who  is  obliged,  because  he  has  previously  en- 
closed his  spirit  in  a determined  religion,  to  find  good  here 
or  at  least  to  apologize  for  the  act.  What  kind  of  tortures 
will  it  not  be  necessary  for  him  to  apply  to  his  conscience? 
And  when  he  finds  out^that  the  Lord  was  irritated  on  finding 
out  these  things,  not  at  Abraham,  but  at  the  Kings  because 
they  had  taken  Sarah,  and  punished  them  greatly  until  they 
hail  returned  Sarah,  while  Abraham  rr'as  honored  continually 
by  the  Lord?  Or  when  he  sees  further  along  that  the  v/hole 
prominence  of  the  tribe  of  Israel  rvas  due  to  the  f’ and  of 
Rebecca  in  blessing  Jacob  instead  of  Isaac,  and  feels  himself 
obliged  to  believe  that  this  deception,  with  divine  approral, 
is  the  basis  of  Israel’s  predominance,  and  all  the  rest  as  it  is 
reported  in  each  chapter?  To  what  point  will  it  be  necessary 
for  this  reader  to  arrire  in  order  to  lose  his  moral  balance? 

“Such  is  the  morality  produced  by  religion  in  persons  who 
have  a certain  amount  of  instruction.  .Such  gymnastics  can- 
not be  performed  with  impunity.  For  this  reason  as  gveat  a 
thinker  as  Guyau  has  sustained  that  possibly  Protestantism 
is  not,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  a superior  educative  re- 
ligion to  Catholicism  ; for  there  is  noted  the  different  attitude 
of  the  two  religions  toward  the  absurd.  The  Catholic  re- 
ligion recommends  the  swallowing  of  the  absurdity  at  once 
without  tasting  it.  as  children  do  medicine,  this  attitude  be- 
ing represented  by  the  authoritative  phrases  of  the  Church, 
T believe  although  it  is  impossible ; I believe  because  it  is 
absurd.’  Since  they  do  not  examine  this  absurdity  when  swal- 
lowed, at  least  the  rest  of  the  mentality  may  be  left  undis- 
turbed. But  with  the  religions  of  freedom  of  thought,  it  is 
necessary  to  prove  that  the  absurdity  is  not  an  absurdity, 
which  brings  a mental  warping  that  is  the  most  dangerous  of 
all  things.  The  same  reasoning  applies  to  modernism  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  I believe,  therefore,  that  if  there  is  a crude 
religion  and  a refined  one,  the  crude  religionists  will  have  an 
out-of-date  mentality  and  the  refined  ones  will  have  a dis- 
located mentality;  in  other  words,  I believe  that  when  these 
religious  spirits  are  refined  they  are  worse  than  when  crude — 
they  give  less  hope. 

“I  have  spoken  of  the  bad  phases  of  religions  of  ‘liberal 
thought’;  the  facility  for  division,  for  finding  solutions,  ar- 
rangements; for  the  moral  and  intellectual  is  so  much  a part 


85 


of  them  that,  if  it  were  sensil)le  to  compare  races.  Latins.  Saxons 
and  Tentons.  and  ask  which  is  superior.  I believe,  contrary  to 
certain  ideas  that  are  afloat  today,  that  there  is  a quality  which 
would  make  our  race  clearly  superior  to  these  others,  the  quality 
of  greater  resistance  which  we  oppose  to  those  states  of  the  spirit 
which  result  from  intellectual  and  moral  ‘arrangements,’  those 
psychological  divisions,  those  inconsequents  of  sentiments  and  in- 
telligence. 

“The  moral  life  of  each  one  should  he  then,  rather  than 
a system,  a Iwing  state.  Lhifortunately  one  has  to  follow  this 
morality  without  help,  for  there  are  no  hooks  on  ethics  which 
explain  sincerely  what  the  position  of  man  is  and  what  his 
actions  shoidd  be.  A\T  live  on  a planet  of  which  we  know 
not  the  origin,  on  a limited  bit  of  the  universe  of  which  we 
know  little  and  of  the  part  beyond  which  we  know  nothing.  But 
if  we  must  build  our  houses  on  the  corruptible  earth,  at  least 
let  us  have  windows  open  toward  the  heavens.  Choose  what- 
ever style  you  prefer,  Greek,  Roman,  Gothic,  only  one  you 
must  not  choose,  that  of  the  pyramids.  Fur  if  a building  is 
closed  above  it  is  good  for  nothing  except  a tomb.  From 
these  positive  systems,  one  may  see  the  sky,  divine,  suppose, 
conceive,  dream.” 

No  one  can  doubt,  as  he  studies  the  growingly  complex 
life  of  South  America,  that  her  greatest  problem  is  a moral 
one.  As  Prof.  Ferreira  and  many  others  have  pointed  out, 
one  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  has  failed  to  supply  an 
adequate  basis  for  morality.  Will  the  Evangelical  Church  be 
able  to  do  so?  This  is  the  greatest  question  before  the  leaders 
of  that  church  in  South  America  and  their  friends  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  who  are  helping  to  develop  this  movement. 

Growing  Influence  of  the  Evangelic.vl  ^Movement 

In  the  capitals  of  South  America  it  is  not  difficult  to  recog- 
nize the  very  rapidly  growing  influence  of  the  Evangelical 
Church,  or  at  least  of  the  missionaries.  In  cities  like  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  Montevideo  the  Evangelical  Church  itself  is  now 
counted  as  an  influence  both  b}^  government  officials  and  the 
community  at  large.  In  cities  like  Lima,  only  an  individual 
missionary  or  two  has  come  to  be  recognized.  In  the  latter 
city  a missionary  of  the  Free  Church  of  .Scotland  founded  a 
little  day  school  four  years  ago.  He  now  has  more  applica- 
tions from  the  best  class  of  peo])le  than  he  can  possibly 


86 


accept  in  his  school.  At  the  same  time  he  has  been  elected 
a member  of  the  most  exclusive  literary  circle  of  the  city  and 
made  a full  professor  in  the  old  exclusive  University  of  San 
iMarcos.  A missionary  of  the  South  American  Evang’elical 
Union  has  made  a continuous  tight  for  religious  liberty  and 
had  a good  deal  to  do  with  the  passing  of  the  bill  for  religious 
liberty  in  1915,  which  for  the  first  time  gave  the  Protestants 
the  right  to  have  their  meetings  in  ecclesiastical  appearing 
buildings  and  invite  people  publicly  to  their  services.  The 
Evangelical  School  for  (Erls  counts  among  its  jiatrons  cabinet 
ministers,  I'ankers  and  other  prominent  families  of  Lima. 

As  to  the  work  of  the  Protestants  in  Peru,  Sr.  Davalos  y 
Lisson  says:  “For  some  time  there  have  been  certain  Prot- 
estant pastors,  belonging  to  the  Evangelical  Church,  who  in 
their  desire  to  proselite  have  spread  their  teachings  among 
the  Indians.  At  first  they  were  legally  attacked  by  the  priests 
and  public  cjfficials,  who  invoked  Article  Four  of  the  Consti- 
tution. Congress  suspended  the  part  of  the  article  prohibiting 
the  exercise  of  other  religions,  so  that  the  opposition  to  the 
evangelicals  now  has  no  support  in  law.  Yet  there  still 
arrive  in  Lima,  from  time  to  time,  notices  of  strange  attacks 
on  Peruvians  and  foreigners  belonging  to  the  evangelicals, 
attacks  generally  carried  out  by  ignorant  and  drunken  crowds, 
incited  by  religious  fanatics.  The  way  in  which  the  Protestants 
have  intensified  their  labors  in  the  mountains  is  notable. 
Their  endeavors  are  interesting  from  the  standpoint  of  moral 
and  civil  improvement.  They  correct  the  immoral  customs 
of  the  Indians  and,  most  imi)ortant,  they  combat  alcoholism, 
the  most  terrible  enemy  of  the  native,  a vice  that  has  been 
tolerated  by  the  priests  in  their  religious  festivities.  The 
evangelicals,  by  means  of  their  words  and  example,  both  kind 
and  austere,  have  persuaded  the  people  who  visit  them  to  quit 
their  drinking.” 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  work  of  Protestant  mis- 
sions here  mentioned  is  that  carried  on  in  the  remote  high- 
lands by  the  South  American  Evangelical  Union  on  their 
Urco  Farm  and  that  of  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists  near 
Puno,  on  Lake  'fiticaca.  The  South  American  Idshop  of  the 
Alethodist  Episco];al  Church  has  said  that  the  work  of  the 
Adventists  here  is  the  most  remarkable  that  he  has  seen  in 
South  America.  They  now'  have  seventy  schools  w'ith  an 
average  of  fifty  students  each,  taught  by  Indians.  A Normal 


87 


School  is  being  built  \\hich  A\’ill  prepare  more  and  better 
teachers.  The  system  is  so  developed  that  it  seems  to  be 
almost  self-propag-ating-.  The  Urco  Farm  too  is  doing  a re- 
markable work,  l)oth  for  th.e  spiritual  and  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  Indians.-  The  corn  crop  in  that  district  has  Ireen  re- 
markably improved  by  the  importation  of  seed  during  the  last 
few  years.  The  government  has  such  conadence  in  the  direc- 
tor of  the  farm  that  the  funds  for  road  building  and  other 
public  works  aie  placed  under  his  control,  and  his  advice  is 
sought  on  all  public  questions. 

In  Santiago  de  Chile  the  two  evangelical  schools,  Santiago 
College  and  Institiito  Ingles,  have  been  recognized  for  years 
by  the  community  at  large  as  outstanding  influences  for  good. 
Students  and  professors  from  the  national  university  have 
mingled  with  those  students  and  professors  in  fraternal  help- 
fulness. One  of  the  evangelical  missionaries  has  taught 
English  for  several  years  in  the  university  and  at  least  one 
of  the  university  professors  publicly  urges  his  students  to 
read  the  Bilde  and  attend  Christian  schools  in  the  United 
States.  The  missionary  forces  a^e  recognized  by  the  Chilean 
leaders  as  the  best  kind  of  allies  in  reform  movements  such  as 
those  of  temperance  and  labor.  The  recently  formed  Young 
Women’s  Christian  Association  has  come  to  l)e  quite  a center 
of  women  students  of  the  unive.sity.  The  three  hundred 
members  have  agreed  to  carr}-  all  the  local  expenses  for  the 
coming  year,  the  second  of  the  organization.  The  Evangel- 
ical bookstore,  located  in  the  center  of  the  city,  though  small, 
is  getting  recognition  in  commercial  and  student  circles,  and 
is  slowly  permeating  the  community  with  Christian  literature. 
Santiago  is  only  equaled  by  two  or  three  other  cities  in  the 
world  in  the  number  of  foreign  missionaries,  there  being  over 
sixty  located  there  at  present. 

The  President  of  Chile,  Sr.  Arturo  Alessandri,  recently 
elected  on  a reform  ticket,  which  the  evangelical  forces 
backed  with  enthusiasm,  said  to  representatives  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Union  of  Santiago,  on  the  occasion  of  their  presenting 
him  with  a copy  of  the  Scriptures:  “I  am  a Christian.  I 
believe  in  the  doctrines  of  Christ.  I accept  the  sound  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible  and  reject  clerical  errors.  I raise  the  white 
flag  to  all  truth.  This  book  of  yours  which  you  present  will 
remain  by  my  side.  It  will  be  my  guide  and  I shall  know 
how  to  appreciate  it  at  its  true  worth.  If  Congress  confirms 


8S 


mv  election,  v/hen  I come  into  the  capital  I will  vcork  inces- 
santlv  for  complete  and  absolute  liberty  of  conscience.  I 
know  of  the  cultural  and  moral  work  that  you,  the  evangelicals, 
are  doing  in  all  the  republic,  and  I hold  it  in  the  highest 
esteem.  If  I enter  the  nation’s  capitol  the  doors  will  always 
be  open  to  help  every  good  woik  which  you  do  and  you  will 
always  occupy  a ])lace  in  my  heart.” 

In  an  inte  viev.'  I had  vrith  the  president,  he  said:  “The 
only  book  I haA  e in  my  bedroom  is  the  Bible  and  I read  it 
eve:  y day.  I believe  tlie  people  of 'the  United  States  are  great, 
not  because  of  their  great  commerce  and  energy,  but  they 
haA'e  these  things  because  the}'  are  a Bible-reading  people. 
We  have  before  us  in  Chile  a great  many  problems,  such  as 
the  labor  a'ld  temperance  prc  blems,  and  1 desire  to  solve  them 
according  to  the  p:inciples  of  the  Bible.  I believe  in  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State,  so  that  the  State  may  pro- 
tect and  encourage  all  form.s  of  Christianitv  which  work  for 
the  good  of  the  people.” 

The  city  of  Buenos  Aire.r  has  a population  of  nearly  two 
million  people  and  it  is  difficult  to  feel  the  influence  of  any 
one  movement  there.  Both  for  that  reason  and  because  the 
evangelical  forces  there  have  been  less  progressive,  it  may 
be  explained  why  their  influence  is  not  so  much  in  evidence. 
The  Young  klen's  Christian  Association,  with  3600  members, 
however,  must  be  reckoned  as  a real  community  influence. 
The  b’oung  Y'omen's  Christian  Association  is  also  making 
itself  felt  among  the  women  of  the  city,  though  their  lim- 
itations in  building  have  retarded  them  greatly.  Colcgio  Amer- 
icano. supported  jointly  by  the  Methodists  and  Disciples  of 
Christ,  is  gradually  becoming  recognized  in  educational  circles. 
The  so-called  “Morris  Schools.”  the  soul  of  which  is  an  Anglican 
clergyman  of  that  name,  have  attracted  the  widest  attention  of  any 
evangelical  work  and  have  even  been  granted  subsidies  hy  the  Na- 
tional Congress,  after  the  liveliest  debates  on  religious  lilierty.  The 
Salvation  Army  is  also  recognized  officially  and  generally  as  a 
philanthropic  agency  and  the  new  business  block  they  are  planning 
to  erect  in  the  center  of  the  city  will  represent  the  contributions 
of  many  citizens  of  Buenos  Aires.  The  Secretary  of  the  World’s 
Sunday  School  Association,  living  in  Buenos  Aires,  was  not  long 
ago  invited  to  write  a series  of  comments  on  scripture  texts,  which 
were  published  in  a weekly  paper.  The  university  students  are 
joining  heartily  in  the  campaign  of  the  Young  klen’s  Christian 


89 


AssoL-iatiun  to  rai^e  funds  fur  the  needv  students  of  Europe.  So 
far  as  the  writer  knows,  however,  uj)  to  the  present,  no  missionary 
or  regular  mission  work  in  Ituenos  Aires  has  secured  such  influence 
in  the  communit}'  as  may  I)e  noted  in  some  other  South  American 
capitals. 

In  ^Montevideo  there  is  so  liberal  an  atmosphere  that  the  fact 
that  one  is  a Protestant  does  not  at  all  mark  him  oiif  from  the 
general  community.  The  present  rector  of  the  University  used  to 
be  a teacher  in  the  INIethodist  Sunday  School  and  was  educated  in 
the  WAldensian  Polony.  During  his  administration  of  the  office 
of  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  he  discovered  the  shortage  in 
accounts  of  one  of  the  consuls  in  a foreign  country.  When  he 
began  to  prosecute  the  man,  the  president  recpiested  him  to  desist 
since  the  consul  had  rendered  ])olitical  favors  to  his  chief.  The 
minister  resigned  as  a protest.  His  successor  in  office  told  him 
that  he  could  never  understand  why  a man  would  sacrifice  a bril- 
liant career  because  of  a delicate  moral  point.  But  when  he  visited 
the  W'aldensian  Colony  and  saw  the  emphasis  placed  on  honor, 
he  then  could  understand.  This  Waldensian  Colony,  founded  more 
than  half  a century  ago  by  several  thousand  Waldensians,  has 
exercised  a marked  influence  on  the  life  of  Uruguay,  IMany  of 
their  }’oung  people  have  gone  through  the  professional  schools 
of  Montevideo  and  are  now  leading  physicians,  lawyers,  engineers 
and  merchants.  The  IMethodist  Church  in  Montevideo  probably 
has  the  highest  average  of  intelligence  as  well  as  the  finest  church 
building  of  any  congregation  in  Spanish-speaking  Protestantism. 
One  of  its  members  is  a justice  of  the  Suimeme  Court  and  another 
has  been  a professor  in  the  University  for  many  years.  The  Edu- 
cational Secretary  of  the  ('ommittee  on  Co-operation,  who  makes 
his  headquarters  in  Montevideo,  is  recognized  by  the  intellectual 
circles  in  their  temperance  and  other  organizations  for  reform. 
The  Methodist  Woman's  Board  is  now  erecting  what  promises  to 
be  the  finest  building  for  a girls’  boarding  school  in  South  Amer- 
ica. Here  also  is  to  be  located  the  International  Faculty  of 
Theology  and  Social  Sciences,  which  is  to  give  post-graduate 
training  to  Evangelical  leaders  of  all  South  America. 

Rio  de  Janiero  is  i>robablv  the  largest  evangelical  center  in  the 
Latin  world,  though  1 am  not  sure  as  to  its  comjjarative  strength 
with  the  evangelical  movement  in  Paris.  There  are  about  one 
hundred  preaching  points  in  the  city  and  suburbs.  The  Pastor’s 
Association  has  some  sixty  members.  Protestantism  here  glories 


90 


in  a great  history  since  the  first  service  of  the  evangelicals,  which 
was  really  the  first  foreign  mission  ever  sent  out  by  Protestantism, 
was  held  by  the  Huguenots  in  that  city  in  1554.  The  oldest  Prot- 
estant Church  in  South  America,  built  by  the  English  colony  in 
1910,  still  renders  service  to  the  same  colony.  The  central  congre- 
gations of  the  Brazilian  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  IMethodist  and  Con- 
gregational Churches  have  large  and  infiuential  memberships.  The 
First  Presbyterian  Church  has  a thousand  members  and  a thou- 
sand in  Sunday  School,  with  social  rooms,  a printing  press,  and 
pastor’s  residence  ; it  supports  several  missionary  workers  in  Brazil 
and  one  in  Portugal,  conducting  some  fourteen  branch  Sunday 
Schools  in  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  counts  among  its  mem- 
bers congressmen,  physicians,  hankers,  merchants  and  literary 
men  as  well  as  those  of  the  humbler  classes.  A member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  who  died  recently  had  an  estimated  capital 
of  one  million  dollars  in  his  business  and  was  the  patron  of  a num- 
ber of  city  charities.  The  governor  of  the  State  of  Espiritu  Santo, 
Brazil,  is  a devout  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Visiting 
ministers  at  the  .State  capitol  are  often  asked  into  his  private 
office  to  read  the  Bible  and  pray  with  him.  When  he  was  living 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro  representing  his  state  in  the  Senate,  his  church 
put  on  a cam])aign  for  tithing.  After  a sermon  by  his  pastor,  he 
came  to  him  with  the  word  that  he  had  decided  to  give  a tenth 
of  his  income,  and  as  a beginning  for  that  vear.  he  ])Ut  into  his 
pastor’s  hands  a check,  equal  to  several  thousand  dollars. 

The  daily  papers  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  publish  articles  both  from 
the  pens  of  evangelical  writers  and  from  their  own  staff  describ- 
ing evangelical  work.  The  Evangelical  Hospital  was  Imilt  entire- 
ly by  the  churches  of  Brazil  at  a cost  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  is  sustained  bv  them.  The  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  raised  in  a recent  building  campaign,  led  bv  the  fore- 
most citizens  of  the  city,  Sr.  Ruy  Barbosa  being  chairman,  more 
than  a hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  'S’oung  Women's  Christian 
Association  in  a year  after  its  opening  has  twelve  hundred  mem- 
bers, among  them  .some  of  the  most  distinguishedwomenof  the  city. 
The  Secretary  for  Literature  of  the  Committee  on  Cooperation  is 
a member  of  the  most  important  literary  clubs  of  the  city  and  the 
series  of  readers,  prepared  by  him,  has  just  heeu  adopted  hv  the 
public  schools  of  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo,  .\n  evangelical  i)astor 
of  Sao  Paulo  has  written  what  is  generally  recognized  as  the  best 
grammar  of  the  Portuguese  language.  The  General  Agent  of  the 


91 


American  Bible  Society  is  recognized  both  by  Brazilians  and 
foreigners  as  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It 
was  he  who  first  suggested  to  the  government  that  it  follow  the 
method  used  in  Cuba  to  cleani  u]5  Rio  de  Ja-ueiro,  a suggestion 
which  led  to  the  transformation  of  the  city  from  one  of  the  worst 
pest  holes  in  America,  to  one  of  the  most  healthful  and  certainly 
the  most  beautiful  city  in  the  world.  His  was  the  honor  also  to 
begin  the  playground  movement  ar;d  other  civic  betterments.  In 
the  recent  epidemic  of  influenza,  this  good  man  offered  himself  and 
the  “People's  Institute,”  which  he  directed,  to  a committee  of 
citizens  on  which  vrere  working  tiie  principal  Catholic  clergy  of 
the  city.  From  a meeting  at  the  Cathedral,  a priest  was  sent  with 
him  to  visit  the  Parish  Church,  near  the  People’s  Institirie.  With 
such  an  introduction  the  parisb.  prCst  agreed  to  allow  the  evan- 
gelical minister  to  take  entire  re'-iponsibility  for  ministering  to 
more  than  half  of  the  parish.  This  minister  saw  the  error  in 
the  way  relief  was  being  administer  d,  the  sick  people  themselves 
coming  together  at  relief  stations  and  standing  in  the  sun  for  hours, 
not  only  making  the  sick  worse,  but  spreading  the  disease.  Sa 
he  told  the  committee  that  he  co'.d.  1 not  follow  their  plan,  but 
would  make  a systematic  canvass  of  tire  houses,  find  out  \vhat  v/as 
needed  and  deliver  it  to  the  sick.  They  saw  the  point  at  once 
and  the  system  of  relief  in  the  whole  city  was  changed  to  tlie  one 
used  bv  the  People’s  Institute.  This  contrilruted  greatly  to  the 
good  name  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  for  not  only  in  the  caj^ital 
hut  in  all  Brazil,  were  the  Evangelicals  first  and  most  practical 
in  their  relief  in  this,  one  of  the  greatest  epidemics  in  the  history 
of  the  republic. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  evangelical  influence 
on  a member  of  the  intellectual  class  in  Latin  America  is  found 
in  the  case  of  Dr.  Jose  Carlos  Rodriguez,  who  has  just  produced 
a study  on  the  Old  Testament  that  is  no  doubt  the  greatest  work 
of  its  kind  ever  written  in  the  Portuguese  or  Spanish  language. 
Dr.  Rodriguez  was  for  many  years  the  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  largest  daily  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  The  Journal  of  Commerce. 
As  such  and  because  of  his  singular  uprightness  of  character  and 
his  understanding  of  international  cpiestions,  he  was  often  called 
on  by  his  government  to  serve  on  many  important  international 
commissions.  As  a young  man  he  got  hold  of  a Bible  on  his  first 
trip  to  the  United  States  and  ever  since  has  been  a student  of 
the  Book.  Several  years  ago,  he  began  a series  of  articles  in  his 


92 


paper  on  Bible  Study.  Ble  then  became  so  interested  in  the  subject 
that  he  decided  to  sell  his  paper  and  give  the  rest  of  his  life  to 
writing  on  the  subject.  His  first  book  has  just  been  published 
in  two  large  and  handsome  volumes  of  more  than  a thousand 
pages,  and  is  called  “Estudo  Historico  o Critico  sobre  o Velho 
Testamento.”  It  represents  eleven  years  of  investigation,  the  last 
five  of  which  were  given  entirely  to  the  writing  of  this  work  and 
seeing  it  through  the  press  in  Edinburgh. 

Lest  the  writer  of  these  lines  Ije  thought  to  overstate  the  far- 
reaching  importance  of  this  hook,  which  seems  to  him  to  mark 
the  entering  of  South  America  into  a new  epoch  of  spiritual  devel- 
opment, let  the  vvords  of  a distinguished  South  American  be  cited. 
The  well-know  Brazilian  literary  critic.  Dr.  Joao  Ribeiro,  in  one 
of  the  best  known  daily  papers  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  reviewing  Dr. 
Rodriguez’  book  says:  “Generally  there  is  no  love  for  religious 
literature  in  Brazil.  Roman  Catholicism  does  not  favor  criticism 
or  permit  liberalism  in  ideas  or  opinions,  which  she  considers 
dangerous.  To  this  is  due  the  sterility  of  our  ideas  on  religion, 
which  do  not  reach  beyond  eloquent  sermons  suchasthose  of  Vieira 
or  blont  Iverne  in  which  there  are  found  most  beautiful  literary 
forms.  It  is  easy  to  attribute  the  indifference  of  our  intellectuals 
toward  Roman  Catholicism  in  Brazil  to  this  dogmatic  narrowness 
which  predominates  in  all  Latin  countries.  The  door  of  reaction 
shuts  out  liberal  thought.  The  faithful  become  accustomed  to 
this  prejudicial  attitude  which  soon  degenerates  into  a profound 
indifference. 

“This  book  of  Dr.  Rodriguez  makes  us  think  of  new  roads  that 
may  be  opened  as  an  outlet  for  the  religious  stagnation.  It  is 
not  a book  of  propaganda,  1)ut  it  is  a worthy  effort  and  God  grant 
that  it  may  bring  results.  Books  of  this  kind  are  what  the  Latin 
people  need.  On  reading  Dr.  Rodriguez’  book  we  have  been  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  that  it  is  the  only  book  in  all  our  language  that 
takes  into  account  modern  science  in  the  discussion  of  religion. 
It  does  not,  however,  follow  the  extreme  of  the  Germans’  ration- 
alism. On  the  contrary,  it  is  a book  of  profound  religious  faith, 
which  loves  discussion  and  historical  criticism,  in  which  proof  of 
the  truth  is  found. 

“This  tendency  constitutes  the  greatest  difficulty  for  a criticism 
which  is  emancipated  from  preconceived  religious  ideas.  As  Prof. 
Loehr  says  : ‘Scientific  study  should  be  separated  from  the  Church’s 
dogmatic  point  of  view,  which  insists  that  the  Old  Testament  is 


9.5 


a preparation  for  the  X"e\v  and  that  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews 
is  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  toward  the  perfection  in  Christ.'  But 
the  l)Ook  under  review  takes  exactly  the  op])osite  view  from  that 
of  Loehr.  For  Dr.  Rodriguez  the  whole  of  Jewish  history  is  a 
constant,  clear  and  progressive  revelation  of  the  great  Christian 
fact.  ‘Jesus  Christ  is  the  secular  projection  of  the  Divine  Activity 
in  the  history  of  the  chosen  people,’  are  the  author’s  exact  words. 

“We  find  this  doctrine  somewhat  exclusive.  For  other  authors 
all  peoples  that  antedated  Christ,  Egyptians,  Persians,  Greeks  and 
even  Romans,  were  collaborators  in  developing  Christianity.  Jesus 
did  not  know  these  peoples,  most  probably,  nor  was  that  necessary, 
since  His  work  was  purely  and  profoundly  moral.  He  did  not  need 
scientific  information.  But  the  Christianity  which  springs  from 
Him  received  much  from  its  contact  with  these  peoples,  as  is  seen 
in  Saint  Paul,  the  author  of  Christian  theology,  and  in  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  which  is  mistakenly  attributed  to  the  Apostle  John.  . . . 

“It  only  remains  to  say  of  this  hook  of  deep  and  vast  erudition 
that  whatever  may  he  the  religicms  sentiments  of  those  who  read 
it,  they  will  find  here  a proof  of  the  intellectual  capacity  of  our 
race  to  confront  the  most  difficult  and  the  most  profound  problems 
of  humanitv.  In  our  Portuguese  or  Brazilian  hibliographv  we 
do  not  have  one  single  hook  which  can  he  put  beside  this  study  of 
the  (Jld  Testament.  We  have,  possil)ly,  delitantes  and  lovers 
of  religious  literature,  as  is  the  author  of  these  lines,  and 
a few  fragments  of  Tol)ias  Barreto,  little  read  and  gener- 
allv  dei>reciated.  . . . Irreligious  men,  in  the  true  sense 

of  the  word,  do  not  exist.  Intolerance  or  fanaticism  is  only 
a state  of  mind  which  uses  ‘irreligious’  to  describe  the  unfor- 
tunate unbeliever  and  to  curse  its  adversary.  It  is  well  then, 
since  men  everywhere  have  their  peculiar  religious  sentiments, 
that  all  should  read  this  hook,  admirable  in  its  every  treatment 
and  eloquent  in  its  l)eautiful  simplicity.’’ 

Summing  up  my  impressions  of  the  evangelical  work  of  South 
America  on  this  last  trip,  I would  say  that  in  spite  of  the  great 
need  of  enlargement  in  personnel,  equipment  and  program,  the 
Evangelical  Movement  has  come  to  he  an  established  and  recog- 
nized force  in  South  America.  The  old  discussions  concerning 
whether  or  not  the  simple  evangelical  church  could  ever  satisfy 
the  Latin  temperament  with  its  love  for  display  and  ceremony  or 
the  other  question  as  to  whether  or  not  Protestant  missions  to 
South  Americans  were  justified  or  would  ever  he  welcomed  by 


94 


them — these  discussions,  in  the  light  of  actual  developments  have 
ceased  to  be  questions.  In  modern  parlance,  the  Evangelical 
Church  in  South  America  has  “arrived.”  A certain  type  of 
publicist,  ecclesiastics,  politicians  and  sentimentalists,  may  go 
on  ignoring  or  opposing  this  fact.  But  no  real  student  of  the 
social  life  of  the  continent,  whatever  may  be  his  likes  or  dislikes, 
will  fail  to  recognize  this  growingly  important  phenomenon. 

Organizers  of  the  Panama  Congress  and  workers  in  the  Com- 
mittee on  Co-operation  in  Latin  America  may  well  take  courage 
at  the  part  this  movement  has  had  in  l)ringing  the  evangelical 
work  to  its  present  strength.  The  difference  between  the  impact 
of  the  evangelical  work  in  the  community  as  seen  in  visits  in  1914 
and  in  1921  is  nothing  less  than  remarkable.  This  multiplied  in- 
fluence has  been  brought  al)out  !)}■  a united  study  of  the  task,  a 
united  program  of  action,  the  presentation  of  a united  front  be- 
fore the  community  and  a l)roader,  more  positive,  more  compre- 
hensive conception  of  the  service  to  be  rendered. 

.Sir.xs  OF  Mor.vl  and  .Stikitual  Aw.vkening 

In  every  one  of  the  countries  visited  in  South  .'\merica,  I 
found  a rapid  development  of  all  kinds  of  altruistic  movements 
like  free  night  schools,  public  milk  stations,  campaigns  for  ’’bet- 
ter babies,"  anti-tuberculosis  organizations,  free  reading  rooms, 
Bov  Scouts,  newsboys’  homes,  clul)s  for  working  girls,  student 
hostels,  mutual  societies  for  intellectual  improvement  and  health 
insurance,  Saturday  half-holiday  and  any  number  of  other  move- 
ments. While  these  were  often  fostered  by  the  labor,  feminist 
or  temperance  movements,  or  by  North  American  missionary 
forces,  there  are  many  of  them  that  seem  to  be  entirely  inde- 
pendent. These  movements  show  the  usual  weaknesses  of  the 
beginnings  of  such  independent  developments,  whthout  technical 
direction.  But  they  show  the  remarkable,  wide-awake  spirit  of 
the  people  and  offer  great  encouragement  to  those  interested  in 
the  moral  and  spiritual  development  of  South  America.  A book 
could  easily  be  written  outlining  these  movements.  In  Santiago 
de  Chile  there  is  an  office  building  where  nearly  a dozen  social, 
temperance  and  educational  organizations  working  for  community 
development,  have  their  headquarters.  The  mere  signs  on  the 
doors  are  one  of  the  most  impressive  demonstrations  of  the  way 
these  movements  are  developing.  An  illustration  of  the  informal 
way  in  which  some  of  these  movements  are  begun  and  the  extent 

95 


of  their  outreach  is  found  in  a few  young  men  from  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  in  Ihienos  Aires  making  up  with 
a neighborhood  gang  of  l)oys  hy  first  stoi'P'iig  to  watch  them 
play,  then  entering  into  their  play,  then  telling  them  stories,  then 
teaching  them  new  games,  until  n<.nv  the}'  have  a regular  time 
for  games,  stories,  hikes,  etc.,  and  a loyalty  to  moral  ideals  of 
the  gang  that  is  influencing  the  whole  neighliorhood — all  without 
any  equi])ment  except  a vacant  lot  and  an  occasional  hall  or  hat. 

Beneath  those  outw'ard  demf)nstrations  of  interest  in  the  other 
man  it  is  not  difficult  to  find,  if  one  knows  how  to  get  into  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  a real  hunger  for  spiritual  things,  and  a 
recognition  of  the  necessity  of  a spiritual  basis  for  national  and 
])ersonal  life,  d'he  change  that  is  coming  over  some  of  the  intel- 
lectuals of  South  America  concerning  religion  is  illustrated  in  the 
life  of  one  of  the  leading  educationalists  of  .\rgentina,  who  when 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  was  started  in  Buenos 
-Aires  several  years  ago.  pleaded  with  the  secretaries  to  leave  off 
the  word  Christian  in  order  not  to  shut  out  their  influence  on  the 
general  community.  But  recently  this  same  man  not  only  told  the 
-Association  that  he  recognized  his  mistake  but  has  declared  him- 
self in  accord  with  their  Christian  ])rinciples,  and  is  giving  a large 
part  of  his  time  to  Association  work.  Men  like  Dr.  Fernandez 
Pena,  president  of  the  National  Teachers’  -Association  of  Chile ; 
Prof.  Ernesto  Nelson  of  the  popular  University  of  Buenos  Aires; 
Prof.  Eduardo  Monteverde,  of  the  University  of  LTuguay ; Sr. 
Juan  Francisco  Perez,  Secretary  of  the  Paraguayan  Institute; 
Dr.  Calvez,  of  the  Peruvian  literary  circle,  and  Dr.  Jose  Carlos 
Rodriguez,  the  editor  emeritus  of  “(A  Journal  du  Comercio,”  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  are  leaders  in  this  growing  circle  of  distinguishe<l 
South  Americans  who  believe  profoundly  in  the  necessity  of  the 
s;)iritual  life  as  the  l)asis  of  solving  all  national  and  personal 
])rol)lems. 

Some  f)f  the  younger  generation  of  intellectuals  are  also  turning 
their  thoughts  toward  religion.  1 do  not  mean  to  organized  re- 
ligion. for  1 found  few  of  them  who  were  interested  in  either 
Protestantism  or  Catholicism  as  movements  into  which  they  might 
throw  their  lives.  Ifut  there  are  a number  who  are  now'  coming 
to  ])ursue  the  sentimental  side  of  religion,  to  read  the  lives  of 
saints  like  Loyola  and  Francis  de  Assisi  and  to  he  interested  in 
the  Bible  itself.  The  editor  of  the  oldest  daily  paper  in  Peru 
^aid  to  me  that  he  got  away  from  his  office  as  early  as  possible 

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every  clay  to  go  Irome  and  have  a cjuiet  time  with  his  family  and 
to  read  the  Bible.  He  was  anxious  to  assure  me  that  he  was  no 
Protestant,  but  that  he  did  enjoy  the  Bible.  Calling  on  one  of 
the  best  known  of  the  younger  literary  men,  while  he  was  in  the 
act  of  preparing  a public  address,  1 remarked  on  the  open  Bible 
before  him.  He  replied  that  he  was  looking  for  some  great  words 
of  Isaiah,  with  which  to  burn  a thought  into  the  minds  of  his 
hearers.  This  man  recently  answered  the  attacks  of  Dr.  Gonzales 
Prada  on  religion  and  since  then  has  taken  many  occasions  to 
declare  himself  in  favor  of  Christianity.  Dififerent  from  his  inter- 
est, which  is  largely  social,  there  are  a number  of  young  men  who 
are  cultivating  the  spiritual,  without  any  reference  to  the  prac- 
tical, men  who  have  become  imbued  with  ideas  something  akin 
to  the  old  mystics  and  to  Buddhism.  Some  of  these  have  actuallc' 
taken  to  going  to  mass,  not  that  they  care  anything  for  the  Church 
but  that  it  gives  them  a chance  to  meditate.  One  of  the  highest 
(lualities  that  a thinker  can  have  is  "mia  gran  inquictud  espiritual.” 
There  are  many  young  men  in  South  America  who  read  Victor 
Hugo  as  devotedly  before  retiring  at  night  as  one  of  us  would 
read  our  Bible.  In  a conversation  with  the  Director  of  the  National 
Library,  who  is  also  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Letters  in  San 
Marcos  University,  Peru,  he  said:  “What  Peru  needs  is  idealism 
carried  out  practically.  Send  us  from  North  America  your  people 
of  ideas  and  interpreters  of  the  spiritual.  We  have  been  great 
admirers  of  the  United  States  and  this  has  done  us  harm  in  a cer- 
tain way.  Our  people  have  pointed  to  the  Northern  Republic 
as  successful  because  of  its  practical  ability  to  develop  the  material. 
And  they  have  said  that  if  Peru  will  become  rich,  it  too  will  be- 
come great.  We  need  representatives  of  your  life  that  will  show 
wherein  your  true  greatness  lies,  which  I am  convinced  is  in  your 
emphasis  on  the  spiritual.’’ 

Dr.  Mariana  H.  Cornejo,  one  of  the  great  men  of  Peru,  said 
in  an  address  before  the  University,  July  3,  1915: 

“Gentlemen,  for  individual  wrongs  and  our  social  wrongs  there 
are  only  two  remedies ; either  the  intervention  of  a strong  foreign 
power  whose  help  will  teach  us  to  invoke  religion,  or  one’s  own 
vitality  whose  reaction  teaches  the  calling  upon  and  the  regulation 
of  science.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  University  should  discuss  the 
scientific  solution.  The  first  requisite,  gentlemen,  of  a religious 
apostleship  means  to  feel  profoundly  and  to  transmit  a faith  in 


97 


the  reality  of  the  divine  miracle.  The  first  requisite  of  a scien- 
tific apostleship  is  to  feel  and  transmit  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  a 
scientific  solution. 

“The  greatest  vice  of  our  social  order  is  the  tenacious  resistance 
to  every  reform,  hovrever  insignificant  it  may  be.  Here  we  be- 
lieve there  is  the  greatest  antagonism  between  ideas  and  acts,  that 
at  least  they  can  be  more  than  two  parallel  series  which  can  never 
approach  one  another.  International  law  recognizes  neutrality 
in  war.  We  have  discovered  neutrality  in  science.  In  the  outside 
world  opposite  doctrines  struggle  against  one  another  and  are 
applied  practically.  With  us  the  phenomenon  is  followed  by  in- 
terest. Rut  it  never  occurs  to  us  that  it  might  be  implanted  within 
our  circle.  The  reason  always  given  is  known  to  every  one,  ‘We 
are  not  prepared.’  As  if  either  in  the  physical  or  in  social  evolu- 
tion, there  were  ever  a preparation  different  from  the  need  itself.” 

If  Dr.  Cornejo  is  not  willing  to  do  more  than  point  out  religion 
as  one  of  the  ways  out  of  national  impotency,  there  are  others  who 
are  willing  to  come  forth  clearly  for  religion  as  the  one  way  out 
of  the  present  continent-wide  social  and  moral  confusion. 

\\’hile  Miguel  de  Unamuno  is  not  a South  American,  he  prob- 
ably has  a v/ider  s])iritual  following  than  any  man  on  that  con- 
tinent, so  the  following  from  him  is  significant.  He  first  quotes 
the  following  from  a young  Peruvian  writer:  “What  we  Spanish 
Americans  need,  in  order  to  give  birth  to  a fruitful  collective 
ideal,  is  ethnic  homogeneity,  confidence  in  our  own  powers,  and 
intense  and  concentrated  intellectual  life,  and  social  and  economic 
development.”  Then  Unamuno  adds : “And  they  need  something 
else,  the  same  thing  that  we  Spaniards  need  in  order  that  we  may 
once  again  have  an  idea  that  will  give  originality,  they  need  re- 
ligious sentiment  in  life;  for  the  religion  that  they  inherited  from 
their  fathers  and  ours  is  now  for  them  as  it  is  for  us.  a purely 
conventional  life.” 

About  two  years  ago  the  Argentine  sociologist,  Alfredo  Palacios, 
addressing  a large  meeting  of  students  and  professors  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Lima,  had  a Bible  on  the  table  before  him  from  which 
he  read  profuse  quotations,  chiefly  to  point  out  the  value  of  Mosaic 
and  prophetic  teaching  for  the  solution  of  modern  social  prob- 
lems. A few  weeks  ago  Antonio  Caso,  one  of  the  most  noted 
figures  in  the  intellectual  life  of  klexico,  gave  an  address  before 
a similar  audience,  and  his  theme  was,  “Individuality,  Personal- 

98 


ity,  and  Divinity.”  In  this  address  he  identified  the  highest  type 
of  personality  with  the  ability  to  think  reality  under  a single  con- 
cept, and  at  the  same  time  the  disposition  to  make  free  sacrifice 
of  all  one  possessed.  He  told  his  audience  that  a supreme  per- 
^sonality  of  that  type  could  be  found  in  the  Gospels.  Caso  is  a 
theist  and  denominates  himself  a Christian  thinker.  It  was  he 
who  was  the  chief  instrument  in  demolishing  positivism  in  Mexico. 
That  Spanish  America  should  possess  a philosophical  thinker  of 
the  calibre  of  Caso,  who  calls  himself  a Christian  without  being 
specifically  a Catholic,  augurs  the  possibility  of  the  same  new  dawn 
breaking  over  these  republics  that  the  presence  of  Unamuno  augurs 
for  the  Iberian  peninsula. 

One  curious  thing  I have  noticed  is  that  some  thoughtful  men 
who  do  not  mind  calling  themselves  religious,  mystical  or  even 
Christian,  have  a horror  of  being  called  “sectarian,”  and  unfor- 
tunately everything  that  savors  of  a definite  religious  creed  or 
organization  is  for  them  “sectarian.”  One  of  the  reasons  for  not 
wishing  to  he  “sectarian"  is  that  for  them  it  is  equivalent  to  a static, 
illiberal  and  intolerant  condition,  through  the  annuling  of  all 
spiritual  restlessness  and  growth.  The  compatability  between  a 
definite  creed  and  progressive  spiritual  life  and  thought  seems  not 
to  have  dawned  upon  them. 

Many  of  the  young  men  who  have  l)een  to  school  in  the  United 
States  are  returning  home  with  reports  of  the  place  religion  has 
in  the  life  of  those  countries  and  are  thus  calling  their  fellow 
countrymen’s  attention  to  the  question.  The  philosophical  drift 
now  is  very  evidently  toward  the  spiritual  theories  of  Bergson  and 
William  James  and  away  from  the  materialism  of  Spencer,  who 
has  held  the  place  of  prime  importance  for  many  years. 

The  atmosphere  has  changed  enough  so  that  in  lectures  before 
intellectual  circles  and  in  personal  interviews  on  this  trip,  I felt 
I could  go  further  than  on  other  similar  occasions  in  discussing 
spiritual  questions.  In  a lecture  on  Inter-American  Friendship 
before  the  Universitv  of  Chile,  one  of  the  few  sentiments  applauded 
by  the  dignified  audience  was  that  concerning  the  good  that  could 
be  done  in  bettering  mutual  understandings  by  the  right  kind  of 
spiritual  ambassadors  who  would  discuss  frankly  and  sympa- 
thetically the  great  fundamental  religious  questions  which  lie  at 
the  base  of  both  North  and  South  American  life. 

There  is  some  trace  of  a reviving  interest  in  Roman  Catholicism 
by  the  formation  of  Catholic  Student  Clubs  in  the  University  of 


99 


Buenos  Aires  and  by  the  writings  of  such  authors  as  Dr.  Juan 
Zorilla  de  San  Martin  and  Francisco  Garcia  Calderon.  The 
latter  insists,  in  his  last  hook  “ Ideologia,”  that  there  is  a great 
work  for  the  Church,  if  it  will  only  reform  its  ways,  saying:  “If 
the  school  teaches  nationalism,  the  Church  should  empliasize  high 
moral  ideals,  the  devotion  to  duty,  the  seriousness  of  life,  the 
signihcant  in([uietude  of  death.’’  An  interesting  phenomenon  in 
Catholic  circles  is  the  case  of  those  who  call  themselves  Catholics 
hut  not  Christians.  Strange  enough  the  word  “Christian”  has 
often  in  South  America,  as  in  Spain,  had  a repugnant  connota- 
tion. 

I have  already  referred  to  the  devotion  of  Dr.  Zorilla  de  San 
Martin  to  Koman  Catholicism  and  his  belief  in  the  spiritual.  He 
thinks  that  it  is  the  common  spiritual  forces  of  the  Northern  and 
Southern  Americans  that  will  unite  us  for  world  service.  In  my 
recent  visit  with  him  he  recalled  the  time  in  1896  when  he  was 
ambassador  to  France  and  William  II  was  just  beginning  to  reign. 
The  young  Em]reror  then  composed  a poem,  “A  Song  to  Agir” 
(the  Norse  God  of  War)  which  showed  to  Dr.  Zorilla  that  the 
young  man  was  bent  on  war.  Remembering  this  poem  all  during 
the  years,  this  Uruguayan  writer  recently  took  it  for  the  title  of 
a hook  which  he  has  been  working  on  for  some  three  years.  This 
hook  deals  with  the  world  situation,  growing  out  of  the  war,  and 
the  problem  of  how  the  spiritual  may  he  made  most  prominent 
in  human  relations.  He  has  now  decided  to  change  the  title  of 
his  book  and  call  it  “The  Prophecy  of  Ezequiel,”  referring  to  the 
vision  on  the  Valley  of  Dry  Bones,  and  the  fact  that  they  could 
only  he  given  life  by  the  Spirit  blowing  upon  them.  He  says  that 
it  is  all  right  to  talk  of  commerce  and  agriculture  and  leagues  of 
nations,  hut  the  w'orld  can  never  become  what  it  should  until  it 
has  been  dominated  l)y  the  spirit.  He  believes  that  in  America 
we  have  not  inherited  the  heathen  ideas  of  the  gods  of  the 
Norsemen  that  Germany  has;  that  English  civilization  is  a con- 
tinuation of  the  Roman,  rather  than  the  Saxon,  that  therefore  our 
American  civilization,  both  North  and  South,  is  more  truly  dom- 
inated by  the  heart  and  the  warm  sympathy  for  all  people,  than 
by  the  cold  sentiments  of  the  Norsemen ; and  that,  for  that  reason, 
all  Americans  can  and  must  stand  together  in  seeing  that  spiritual 
values  are  those  that  dominate  mankind.  His  forthcoming  book 
will  no  doubt  be  a great  contribution  to  American  life  in  the  largest 
sense  of  the  term.  The  .spirit  of  the  man  can  be  seen  in  the  fol- 


100 


lowing  (jiiotations  from  the  translation  of  an  address  he  gave  to 
the  North  American  sailor  boys  visiting  Uruguay  during  the 
war ; 

“If  the  fraternitv  of  our  countries  conies  from  the  common 
mother.  Democracy,  this  of  which  I now  sjieak,  this  which  in- 
spires in  me  such  warmth  of  affection  and  interest  in  each  and 
every  one  of  vou.  this  comes  from  something  liigher  and  more 
enduring,  our  common  universal  Father,  our  Father  which  is  in 
•Heaven,  and  who  is  one  with  the  Son  whom  we  all  worship.  Jesus 
Christ  the  Divine  Redeemer  of  men.  1 wi.sh  to  speak  to  you  of 
Him  on  this  occasion,  my  friends  and  brothers,  because  I wish 
to  leave  in  your  souls  as  the  most  precious  rememlirance  of  my 
country,  living  and  eternal  words. 

“When  on  the  starlit  nights  in  the  midst  of  the  infinite  ocean, 
you  ])ass  the  slow  hours  of  the  night  watch  at  the  foot  of  your 
formidable  cannon,  more  than  once  you  will  lift  your  eyes  to  the 
firmament  aliove.  and  more  than  once  you  will  feel  pass  among 
the  constellations  the  memories  of  the  absent  country  for  whose 
glorv  you  struggle,  and  they  will  fill  your  hearts  with  peace,  with 
energv,  with  ralor;  you  will  see  there  the  images  of  those  who 
love  you  most  in  all  the  world  and  whom  you  have  left  in  your 
natir  e land,  the  image  perchance  of  your  mothers  who  in  those 
verv  moments  will  be  lifting  their  Christian  prayers  to  Heaven 
for  vou  that  God  may  keep  you  in  His  care,  and  that  in  your 
journeyings  over  the  far  away  seas  and  lands  He  may  give  you 
friends  who  may  have  toward  you  something  of  the  paternal 
affection,  wFo  may  see  in  you  not  only  the  strong  arms  of  war- 
riors, but  noble  and  Christian  s])irits,  and  who  may  speak  to  you 
now  and  again  of  God,  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Redeemer,  of  purity, 
of  confidence  in  the  Heavenly  Father,  of  the  fulfilment  of  your 
duties  tow’ard  the  good  God.  toward  your  fellowmien  and  toward 
yourselves. 

“ It  is  well  to  rememher,  my  friends,  that  among  the  many  who 
show  you  attentions  in  a more  or  less  collective  and  superficial 
fashion,  there  remain  in  Uruguay  those  who  have  loved  you  indi- 
vidually and  who  will  follow  you  with  affection  after  you  have 
abandoned  our  hospitable  harbor ; remember,  young  and  valiant 
sailors  of  the  democratic  fleet,  that  some  there  are  who.  on  re- 
membering this  group  of  fair  and  youthful  heads  uniformed  in 
white,  will  lift  their  spirits  to  the  Father  which  is  in  Heaven,  and 


101 


will  pray  that  on  every  one  may  come  His  omnipotent  protection. 
His  illuminating  inspirations.  His  Fortitude  and  His  Peace;  they 
will  ask  that  He  guard  you  all  from  the  moral  and  material  dangers 
that  rise  to  meet  you,  and  that  He  return  you  well  and  safe  to 
your  beloved  homeland — better  even  and  stronger  than  when  you 
set  out  from  her  shores. 

‘‘And  thus  it  will  be,  my  friends,  because  the  way  you  take  is 
the  way  of  virtue  and  heroism.  That  Star  Spangled  Banner  of 
your  country,  under  whose  shadow  you  sail  the  seas,  is  a sacred 
thing,  as  you  well  know ; in  her  folds  there  floats  the  very  Spirit 
of  God,  the  God  that  inspired  your  virtuous  Washington  and  to 
whom  the  framers  of  your  Constitution  raised  their  devout  invo- 
cation; that  banner  will  insi)ire  you  always  with  sentiments  of 
valor  and  heroism,  and  it  will  lead  you.” 

These  words,  spoken  by  a leading  Catholic  in  a Young  iMen’s 
Christian  .\ssociation,  and  translated  to  North  American  sailors 
by  an  evangelical  missionary,  signify  the  dawning  of  a new  day 
in  South  America. 

d'here  was  a most  significant  service  held  .\pril  5,  1921,  in 
Buenos  .\ires,  by  professors  and  students,  to  commemorate  the 
first  anniversary  of  the  death  of  the  student  Viera,  who  was  slain 
by  striking  students  at  the  University  of  La  Plata,  when  he  went 
to  his  e.xaminations.  d'here  was  erected  a tablet  which  reads  as 
follows : 

‘‘flere  rest  the  remains  of  David  Francis  Viera,  who  in  eighteen 
.short  years  wrote  on  bronze  the  attributes  of  his  personality 
foreign  to  his  surroundings,  influenced  by  mediocre  and  irre- 
sponsible people,  to  whose  violence  he  opposed  a model  of  filial 
pietv,  worship  of  discipline,  of  the  religion  of  duty  unto  the  utter- 
most, crowning  it  with  pardon  of  his  assassins  and  dying  in  the 
friendship  of  God,  as  he  called  for  the  unity  of  all  his  right-minded 
fellow  students.” 

Dr.  Tomas  D.  Caceres,  speaking  at  the  ceremony,  said: 
“We  must  confess  on  this  solemn  occasion  that  the  University 
Reform  ( the  movement  which  has  given  the  students  the  right  to 
participate  in  the  management  of  the  University),  with  few  exceo 
tions  has  been  a source  of  anarchy,  because  the  forces  incorporated 
in  the  new  arrangement  are  forces  without  feeling  or  reason.  But 
the  student  body  will  never  use  this  force  legitimately  until  it  is 


102 


made  sensible  and  reasonable.  And  this  will  not  be  done  without 
beginning  with  one’s  own  interior  spirit. 

“And  what  is  the  law  of  spiritual  reform  needed?  Unfor- 
tunately this  is  not  a day  of  moral  unity.  Each  one  wall  therefore 
respond  according  to  his  own  ideal.  As  for  myself,  I frankly 
declare,  repeating  a well-formed  idea:  In  the  University  the 
Gospels  should  l)e  taught  and  practised,  for  in  them  is  found  sal- 
vation for  this  situation  as  for  every  situation ; in  the  Gospel  and 
only  in  it  is  found  complete  justice.’’ 

It  would  be  easy  to  make  too  much  of  the  significance  of  such 
statements  as  these ; l)ut  there  is  no  question  that  intellectual 
classes  of  South  America  are  possessed  today  of  a new'  open- 
mindedness  toward  things  spiritual. 

Power  of  Personality 

It  would  be  interesting  to  continue  to  draw  fi'om  one’s  note 
book  items  that  bear  on  this  great  problem  of  the  religious  struggles 
of  the  youngest  and  most  promising  of  the  continents.  Such  a pro- 
cedure would  probably  add  little  to  the  outstanding  facts,  which, 
as  the  author  sees  them,  are  these : Religion,  is  considered  by  a 
large  number  of  the  intellectuals  of  South  America  to  be  organ- 
ized evil  and  when  one  asks  them  to  accept  it  he  is  understood  to 
be  asking  them  to  work  against  progress.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  is  thoroughly  aroused  to  this  opposition  to  its  organization 
and  is  making  far-reaching  efforts  to  overcome  it  and  to  check- 
mate the  growing  reform  movements  among  laboring  men,  stu- 
dents and  women.  The  fight  between  the  Church  and  these  ever 
multiplying  movements  for  social  betterment  is  a most  strenuous 
contest  around  which  other  battles  will  continue  to  w'age  for  a 
period  of  years.  The  importance  of  pure  morals  has  heretofore 
been  little  recognized  in  South  America  and  the  connection  be- 
tween morality  and  religion  has  seldom  been  made ; there  is  now, 
however,  a growing  interest  in  ethical  questions,  which  gives 
hope  and  invites  help.  The  Evangelical  churches  and  the  foreign 
missionaries,  while  still  occupying  a very  limited  circle  in  the  life 
of  the  continent,  have  now  come  to  the  point  where  their  influ- 
ence is  publicly  felt  and  acknowledged  to  be  rapidly  increasing. 
By  probing  under  the  surface  there  is  found  a movement  toward 
spiritual  life,  yet  it  is  almost  entirely  extra-ecclesiastical,  confined 
to  a chosen  few  of  the  intellectual  class. 

Facing  such  a situation,  the  North  American  neighbor,  who  he- 


103 


lieves  in  the  reality  and  power  of  the  Christian  religion  and  de- 
sires with  all  sincerity  to  help  his  Southern  friends,  will  inquire 
how  it  can  be  done. 

The  first  and  most  oljvious  answer  is — enlarge  the  present  mis- 
sion work.  There  can  he  no  doul)t  that  this  work  has  had  far-reach- 
ing results.  To  it  may  be  traced  many  of  the  social  movements 
which  are  now  stirring  the  land.  Little  chapels  in  dark  and  danger- 
ous streets ; (|uiet  meetings  in  private  homes  of  individual 
“l)e]ievers’' ; small  schools,  very  lacking,  from  the  standpoint  of 
modern  pedagogy,  in  equipment  and  teaching  force;  persistent 
colporteurs  tramping  over  mountain  and  plain  to  distrilmte  the 
word  of  God— -these  as  well  as  the  more  pretentious  evangelistic 
and  educational  activities  which  command  wide  attention  from  the 
public  are  worthy  of  duplicating  a thousand  fold.  To  the  pioneers 
who  have  struggled  along  without  equipment,  in  the  midst  of 
fanatical  opposition,  often  with  little  support  from  home  or  the 
field,  is  due  full  recognition.  No  one  who  has  studied  the  results 
of  their  work  could  fail  to  have  the  deepest  appreciation  for  it. 
The  section  of  this  treatise  which  refers  to  the  present  strong  influ- 
ence of  evangelical  missions  points  out,  not  only  the  splendid  re- 
sults obtained  by  them  in  the  past,  hut  also  the  need  of  continuing" 
and  multiplying  the  forces  and  methods  used  in  the  past. 

Yet  everywhere  one  finds  a holy  discontent  among  the  mission- 
aries. and  a belief  that  new  methods  are  necessary.  Some  are 
even  ready  to  declare  that  the  need  is  for  a new  conception  of  the 
missionary  task.  How  this  should  effect  any  particular  situation 
must  he  determined  by  the  individual  missionary  in  view  of  his 
environment  and  of  his  aptitudes.  One  thing,  however,  seems 
sure  and  that  is  that  the  basis  must  be  personality.  Organization 
to  the  Saxon,  seems  indispensable.  “Wherever  two  or  three  Amer- 
icans are  found  together,  there  will  they  meet  and  organize.”^ 
But  two  or  three  Latins,  or  many  times  that  number,  may  be 
together  for  many  moons,  without  ever  thinking  of  organization. 
The  strongest  characteristic  of  the  Hispanic  American  is  individ- 
ualism. This  he  has  inherited  from  his  American  and  Iberian- 
Arabic  ancestry.  His  relationships  are  personal.  The  strength 
of  any  leader,  political  or  otherwise,  in  Hispanic  America,  lies 
in  his  personal  relations.  Candidates  for  office  do  not  win  by 
strong  platforms  hut  by  strong  friendships.  Business  is  not  cap>- 
tured  by  a fine  organization,  which  is  able  to  undersell  and  to 
hurry  up  deliveries,  but  by  personal  relationships  with  the  buyer. 


104 


Letters  of  introduction,  which  have  gone  out  of  style  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  are  still  of  much  value  among  Latins.  An  illustra- 
tion of  the  importance  of  recognition  of  this  emphasis  on  indi- 
vidualism is  seen  in  the  case  of  a leading  intellectual  figure  who 
is  becoming  interested  in  Protestantism,  l^ccause  he  considers  that 
Protestant  nations  have  been  more  progressive  than  Catholic, 
while  his  ideals  (jf  Pan-Americanism  involve  logically  for  him  a 
svmjjathetic  attitude  towards  the  religion  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Repuljlic  of  the  North.  His  chief  difficulty  in  Protestantism  is  a 
sentimental  one.  derived  from  a dislike  of  its  historical  founder, 
Martin  Luther.  For  this  scholar.  Luther  is  “antipatico.”  He  says 
that  if  a man  of  the  type  of  Francis  de  Assisi,  or  Abraham  Lincoln, 
instead  of  the  pugnacious  Wittenburg  monk,  had  been  the  founder 
of  Protestantism  he  would  have  very  much  less  difficulty  in  em- 
bracing it.  Needless  to  say  he  should  be  given  new  light  on  the 
great  Reformer’s  character  as  well  as  to  have  pointed  out  to  him 
that  there  is  more  than  one  tvpe  of  saintliness  needed  in  the  world, 
and  that  in  any  case  the  claims  of  evangelical  Christianity  do  not 
depend  on  our  estimate  of  any  given  individual  who  professes  it, 
but  only  on  the  character  and  teachings  of  its  Founder,  and  the 
results  it  has  produced  in  human  society.  The  case,  however, 
is  interesting  as  affording  an  insight  into  South  American  psy- 
chology. Here  it  is  personality  rather  than  principle  that  isprimarily 
attractive  and  for  that  reason  the  success  of  Christianity  in  this 
continent  is  intimately  hound  up  with  the  intrinsic  attractiveness 
of  the  personalities  through  whom  it  is  mediated.  I am  more 
and  more  convinced  that  what  will  ultimately  win  this  continent 
will  not  be  naked  principle  or  elaborate  organization  but  living, 
breathing,  beaming  personalities  who  will  bring  people  into  im- 
mediate contact  with  the  living  radiant  Lord.  Instead  of  wasting 
a great  deal  of  initial  time  in  controversial  disquisitions  about  the 
claims  of  Protestantism,  the  Divine-Human  Figure  of  Jesus 
Christ  should  he  presented  in  all  its  effulgence;  the  message  should 
he  above  all  things  Cristocentric — Christ  as  the  Satisfier  of  the 
heart’s  longings;  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  individual  and 
societv;  Christ  as  the  fulness  and  goal  of  manhood.  Here,  where 
holld  "Caudillos”  have  never  lacked  a following,  and  men  have 
chuvT  to  them  through  evil  report  and  good  report,  without  con- 
sif'erinrr  too  closelv  the  cause  they  represented,  the  words  of  the 
Master  have  a verv  special  significance;  “And  I if  T be  lifted  up 
from  the  earth  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.” 


105 


In  spite  of  this  well  recognized  individualism  of  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican, however,  the  Anglo-Saxon  missionary  in  southern  countries 
generally  follows  his  characteristic  bent.  His  first  step  on  taking 
up  his  residence  in  a Latin  American  community  is  very  likely  to 
be  the  setting  up  of  a foreign  organization.  He  thereby  slaps  the 
community  in  the  face,  and  makes  it  just  as  difficult  as  possible 
for  anyone  with  the  least  standing  in  the  community  to  approve 
and  accept  what  the  missionary  has  to  offer.  Just  because  the 
missionary  is  a foreigner  he  is  on  trial  in  the  community.  But 
the  organization  he  sets  up  makes  the  matter  worse.  Organiza- 
tions are  often  regarded  as  only  means  of  forcing  methods  and 
ideas  upon  the  unwary  and  unwilling.  But  again  the  organiza- 
tion makes  unusual  demands.  The  missionary  sings  hymns  and 
wants  his  friends  to  sing.  Anyone  who  knows  the  educated  man 
of  Latin  America,  with  his  dignity  and  reserve,  wn'll  see  how 
utterly  foreign  it  seems  to  him  to  join  in  singing  with  a congre- 
gation, There  are  other  aspects  of  this  organization  quite  foreign 
to  Latin  American  taste.  Yet,  as  he  sees  the  situation,  the  only 
way  provided  for  hearing  the  new  truth  is  to  join  the  organiza- 
tion. The  friendship  of  the  missionary  is  reserved  often  for  those 
who  have  joined  or  seem  likely  to  join  the  organized  group  of 
which  he  is  the  leader.  In  fact  his  keen  Anglo-Saxon  conscience, 
trained  for  centuries  to  emphasize  organization,  w'ould  forbid 
his  spending  very  much  time  in  cultivating  friendships  without 
urging  his  friends  to  join  his  organization,  which,  be  it  remem- 
bered, long  after  it  is  seen  to  be  good,  is  still  felt  to  be  foreign. 
If  the  organization  is  sheltered  in  a poorly  furnished  hall  on  a 
side  street,  as  is  often  the  case,  and  if  the  service  is  conducted 
in  the  broken  language  of  a foreigner,  or  the  uncultured  tongue 
of  an  uneducated  national,  the  difficulties  increase.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  often  people  who  are  attracted  to  the  Evangelical 
Church  are  the  kind  who  have  nothing  to  lose  in  social  prestige 
and  no  cultural  prejudices  to  overcome?  The  humble  classes  need 
the  gospel  ministry.  One  of  the  greatest  contributions  made  by 
Evangelical  Christianity  toward  the  development  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican nations  is  the  raising  of  the  “pcoitcs"  and  “rotos”  from  surf- 
dom  into  a thinking,  efficient  middle  class.  But  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity has  a message  also  for  the  higher  classes  who  now  and  for 
a long  time  to  come  will  furnish  the  leadership  of  these  nations. 
It  is  everywhere  recognized  that  the  method  for  effectively  bring- 
ing the  gospel  to  the  higher  classes  of  Latin  America  has  not 


lOd 


been  found.  When  it  is  found,  it  will  pretty  surely  center  around 
personality. 

This  does  not  mean  that  to  win  Latin  Americans  as  loyal 
disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  organization  must  be  ignored.  Latins 
need  the  invigorating  influences  of  organization.  Ihe  best  organ- 
ized missions  are  the  ones  which  are  getting  the  best  results.  The 
magnificent  work  of  the  Centenary  and  the  New  Era  Movements 
in  Chile  and  the  Southern  Baptist  mission  of  Northern  Brazil 
show  this  clearly.  It  rather  means  more  emphasis  upon  methods 
which  are  distinctively  personal,  which  in  the  passing  of  time, 
have  greater  transforming  power,  through  cultivating  friendships, 
eradicating  wrong  conceptions  of  life,  and  planting  the  leaven 
of  love.  It  would  be  a great  mistake  for  the,  missionary  enter- 
prise to  fall  into  the  weakness  of  individualism.  Yet  it  is  equally 
unwise  to  allow  classes  or  office  work,  or  meetings  to  prevent 
personal  friendships,  both  with  those  who  are  within  the  mis- 
sionary circle  and  with  those  who  should  be  there.  There  are 
thousands  of  forward-looking  men  in  South  America  who  are 
anxious  for  fellowship  with  people  who  know  the  outside  world 
as  well  as  the  South  American  world.  Time  spent  with  such  men 
would  redound  to  the  great  good  of  the  people  whom  the  mis- 
sionary has  gone  to  serve.  Many  would  never  become  members 
of  the  missionaries’  organization,  but  some  would,  and  all  would 
contribute  to  the  missionaries’  life  purpose. 

Several  experiments  have  been  tried  by  which  it  was  hoped 
that  missionary  work  should  be  carried  along  with  the  natural 
currents  of  custom  and  not  set  up  unnecessarily  difficult  barriers. 
These  are  giving  most  interesting  results.  The  Scotch  Mission 
in  Lima,  founded  in  1917,  instead  of  starting  as  usual  with  a small 
preaching  service  began  with  a day  school  which  has  been  built 
up  to  the  standard  of  a secondary  school  which  fits  young  men 
for  the  National  University.  The  whole  attention  of  the  mission 
has  been  so  far  given  to  the  building  up  of  that  school.  Is  that 
mission  doing  evangelistic  work?  Maybe  not  according  to  a rigid 
Anglo-Saxon  method  of  thinking,  which  defines  evangelistic  work 
as  implying  a chapel  and  regular  services.  But  no  one  can  go 
into  the  home  where  these  boys  are  boarded  and  into  the  classes 
where  they  are  taught,  without  realizing  what  a far-reaching 
evangelistic  work  is  being  carried  on  among  them.  Who  will  say 
that  after  a term  of  years  the  intensive  spiritual  cultivation  given 
to  those  young  men  will  not  bear  as  much  or  even  more  fruit  for 


107 


Peru  than'  the  preaching  services  held  l)y  some  other  mission  in 
a rented  hall  at  certain  hours  for  those  who  are  willing  to  listen? 
Is  it  merely  our  Anglo-Saxon  tradition  or  is  it  a careful  study  of 
the  methods  of  Christ  and  Paul,  that  brands  one  course  as  right, 
and  the  other  as  “hedging”?  The  Scotch  Mission  proposes  to  open 
a place  for  the  public  proclamation  of  the  gospel  as  soon  as  the 
proper  foundations  are  laid.  But  I,  for  one,  hope  that  they  will 
so  connect  such  a chapel  with  their  educational  work  by  an- 
nouncing public  lectures,*  or  something  of  the  kind,  that  it  may  be 
easy  and  natural  for  educated  men  and  women  to  attend  and  hear 
the  message.  Since  the  director  of  the  school  has  already  been 
recognized,  in  spite  of  his  well-known  religious  relationships,  as 
an  eminent  educationalist  and  has  been  elected  a professor  in  the 
National  University,  such  a step  could  l)e  readily  taken. 

Another  experiment  of  this  sort  has  been  tried  in  Asuncion, 
Paraguay,  where  the  Disciples  of  Christ  recently  opened  the 
work.  Their  first  stej)  was  to  send  a missionary  to  live  in  Asun- 
cion, to  take  courses  in  the  University,  and  to  establish  relations 
on  a friendly  basis  with  the  people  of  the  community.  These 
contacts  were  so  well  established  and  confidence  so  truly  gained 
that  when  the  missionary  was  ready  to  establish  a school,  he  found 
the  first  people  of  the  community  giving  blocks  of  time  in  help- 
ing him  find  property,  run  down  titles,  organize  courses,  etc.  One 
of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  city  devoted  much  time  to  the  matter 
of  titles.  He  would  have  been  entitled  to  a large  fee.  but  refused 
to  take  any  at  all,  because  of  his  interest  in  the  new  enterprise. 
The  school  and  all  its  foreign  teachers  are  now  regarded  as  a part 
of  the  community  life  in  Asuncion,  contrilmting  in  a large  and 
unique  way  to  the  solution  of  its  problems.  The  government  of 
Paraguay  has  recently  offered  to  furnish  a building  in  the  center 
of  the  capital  city,  to  enable  this  recently  established  mission 
school  to  establish  the  first  kindergarten  in  Paraguay.  It  is  to  be 
at  the  same  time  a training  institution  for  kindergartners.  Some 
of  the  new  missionaries  on  the  school’s  staff  are  troubled  in 
conscience  because  there  is  as  yet  no  public  preaching  of  the  gospel 
at  a chapel.  But.  a premature  organization  of  Anglo-Saxon 
worship,  before  they  have  made  their  personal  friendships  through 


* "Paul  continued  his  argument  every  day  from  eleven  to  four  in  the 
lecture  room  of  Tyrannus.  This  wenc  on  tor  two  years  so  that  all  the  in- 
habitants of  Asia,  Jew's  as  well  as  Greeks,  heard  the  w'ord  of  the  Lord." 
(Acts  19:10.  Moffett’s  Version.) 


108 


which  the  way  will  lead  naturally  into  organization,  will,  to  my 
mind,  he  going  both  against  Latin  American  psychology  and  in 
the  face  of  apostolic  method,  and  will  at  the  same  time  greatly 
delay  the  real  progress  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  in  Paraguay. 

To  bring  about  a more  complete  occupation  of  one  of  the  South 
American  fields  one  mission  hoard  recently  agreed  to  turn  over 
to  another  the  entire  evangelical  responsibility  for  a city  which  is 
a great  student  center.  The  church  long  estal)lished  there  has  not 
been  able  to  reach  the  city  at  large.  It  has  developed  a group  of 
sincere  believers  hut  they  are  drawn  almost  wholly  from  the.un- 
influential  classes.  The  new  mission  is  prepared  to  put  a con- 
siderable force  into  the  task  of  reaching  that  city  and  its  constitu- 
encies. Christian  strategy  would  dictate  more  than  the  mere 
multiplication  of  old  methods.  This  force  should  plan  a scheme 
for  reaching  the  intellectual,  especially  the  students  who  will  be- 
come the  leaders  in  all  that  territory.  A new  missionary  might 
make  natural  contacts  with  students  and  fit  himself  better  for 
Teaching  all  classes  of  people  by  taking  courses  in  the  University 
and  by  inviting  little  grou])s  to  his  home.  From  tlrat  might  de- 
velop a community  service,  including  the  public  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  which  would  reach  the  whole  city.  In  the  meantime  the 
relationship  of  such  a missionary  to  the  group  of  humble  Chris- 
tians in  the  little  church  can  he  entirely  cordial  and  helpful,  but 
bis  whole  program  will  not  be  confined  to  their  circle.  In  other 
communities  where  the  church  has  already  started  hut  has  a 
narrow  circle  of  influence,  and  where  there  is  a desire  to  reach 
out  into  other  circles,  it  might  he  wise  to  start  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent movement  in  another  part  of  the  town,  letting  the  two  de- 
velop separately.  The  one  always  will  react  favorably  on  the 
other,  if  they  are  both  conducted  with  the  spirit  of  love  and  service 
that  animated  Christ  in  Ilis  work. 

, One  of  the  missionaries  of  greatest  influence  in  Argentina  is  a 
dentist.  His  Christian  work  seems  natural  to  the  communitv,  be- 
cause he  has  built  it  up  along  with  his  dental  practice.  It  has 
come  to  he  as  natural  to  hear  him  talk  in  public  on  religion,  as  it 
is  to  hear  him  talk  about  it  in  his  office,  when  he  is  filling  one’s 
tooth.  The  first  missionaries  to  Peru  were  forbidden  bv  the 
authorities  to  preach,  so  they  put  up  a photograph  gallery  and  took 
the  people’s  pictures.  For  years  thev  had  to  be  contented  with 
preaching  as  they  photographed.  The  present  mission  house 
in  Cuzco  has  all  of  its  windows  made  of  old  photographic  plates 


109 


cleansed  of  the  likenesses  of  the  valley’s  inhabitants.  These 
missionaries  not  only  made  photographs  but  took  contracts  for 
public  improvements,  selling  an  iron  bridge  to  the  government, 
the  placing  of  which  forms  one  of  the  choicest  stories  ever  re- 
lated in  South  America.  In  this  way  a standing  was  gained 
that  ultimately  allowed  the  missionaries  not  only  to  open  a meet- 
ing place,  but  to  exercise  a large  influence  in  that  capital  city. 
When  permission  had  been  gained  to  preach  the  gospel,  they  felt 
that  they  were  no  longer  justified  in  taking  pictures  or  building 
bridges  or  doing  any  form  of  general  community  service.  What 
was  tlie  outcome  ? The  city  soon  concluded  that  they  were  merely 
trying  to  estalilish  a foreign  religion  among  them.  The  services 
were  attended  by  the  merest  handful  of  ignorant  people.  Through 
their  hospital  and  school  work,  which  they  are  now  building  up, 
the  missionaries  are  finding  a new  contact  with  the  community 
life. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  people  of  Latin  America  should 
he  accustomed  to  listen  to  preaching.  The  pulpit  has  proved  its 
worth  through  the  ages  and  the  Latin  American  churches  must 
use  it.  The  question  may  well  be  raised,  however,  whether  the 
most  effective  preaching  must  follow  unchanging  forms.  Must 
a missionary  always  call  his  public  address  a sermon  rather  than 
a “ccnifcrciicia.”  as  other  puldic  addresses  are  called;  must  he 
always  take  a text  and  read  from  the  Bible  and  have  congrega- 
tional singing ; must  the  meeting  always  be  closed  with  prayer, 
no  matter  how  many  people  are  kept  away  by  ecclesiastical  forms 
which  they  regard  either  as  foolish  or  as  compromising?  Must 
the  Protestant  mark  be  stamped  on  all  that  is  published,  when 
to  do  so  often  keeps  perfectly  good  people  who  are  honestly  in- 
terested in  the  truth,  from  examining  such  literature?  Is  it 
cowardly  or  is  it  Christ-like  to  announce  that  a school  is  not  con- 
ducted to  propagate  a certain  sect  but  is  devoted  to  building  char- 
acter? Is  it  getting  away  from  the  gospel,  or  getting  nearer  to  it, 
to  give  the  benefits  of  a night  school,  a reading  room,  a clinic,  and 
other  advantages  to  the  needy,  without  requiring  that  they  attend 
a Sunday  School  or  lend  their  influence  in  building  up  a church? 
Who  started  the  story  that  Paul  failed  at  Mars  Hill?  Did  our 
Lord  misuse  His  opportunity  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount?  It 
was  not  a sermon  at  all,  as  we  understand  the  word,  but  rather  an 
informal  “Platica”  about  the  everyday  problems  met  by  people 
in  everyday  experiences — no  marks  of  nationality,  no  ceremonies 


110 


designed  for  peculiar  race  psychology,  but  just  universal  truth, 
left  in  the  hearts  of  His  hearers  to  bring  forth  fruit. 

The  following,  written  out  by  a thoughtful  missionary,  after 
our  discussion  of  the  question  of  methods,  is  worth  quoting : 

“There  must  certainly  be  organization  in  Christian  work  in  Spanish 
America,  but  the  organization  should  not  be  the  primary  thing 
especially  when  initiating  an  evangelistic  movement.  A community 
should  first  be  brought  into  contact,  not  with  a general  plan  repre- 
sented by  some  organization  or  other,  but  with  specific  needs, 
specific  remedies,  and,  above  all,  with  specific  personalities  capable 
of  pointing  out  the  former  and  supplying  the  latter.  The 
missionary  should  first  of  all  demonstrate  in  a practical  way  that 
he  can  do  something  of  public  utility  that  others  cannot  do,  or  at 
least  not  do  so  well,  in  order  that  people’s  ears  be  responsive  to 
the  deep  message  he  l)rings.  While  denying  that  mere  community 
betterment  is  the  end  of  missionary  activity,  or  that  any  power 
save  the  Spirit  of  Cod  can  regenerate  a human  soul,  we  are  bound 
to  affirm  that  whatever  activity  undertaken  by  the  missionary  in 
the  interests  of  the  people  among  whom  he  works,  or  in  order 
to  give  him  a claim  on  their  attention  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
a modern  analogy  of  the  wonder-working  power  that  was  con- 
ceded to  God’s  servants  in  those  epochs  of  sacred  history  when 
Judaism  and  Christianity  had  to  make  good  their  claim  to  be  from 
God.  The  claims  of  Judaism  were  vindicated  against  the  pagan 
cults  of  Osiris  and  Baal  by  a hecatomb  of  first-borns  and  the 
dropping  of  celestial  fire,  while  the  claims  of  Christianity  were 
vindicated  against  those  of  Jewish  formalism  by  the  acts  of  One 
/if  Whom  it  was  said,  ‘He  was  mighty  in  deed  and  in  word.’ 
If  the  Biblical  miracles  were  essentially  signs  that  pointed  to  the 
Divinity  of  the  message  of  those  who  performed  them,  God’s 
servants  of  today  to  whom  He  gives  no  wonder-working  power 
must  find  for  themselves  the  means  of  arresting  the  interest  and 
attention  of  those  they  desire  to  evangelize.  When  once  they  have 
established  their  right  to  speak,  then  let  them  speak  and  not  keep 
silent. 

“Starting  from  the  principle  that  a missionary  has  to  establish 
.his  right  to  be  heard,  I believe  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  evangel- 
'isation  on  a higher  plane  than  has  yet  been  attempted.  It  is  clear 
to  me  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  a spiritual  apostle.ship.  Men  especial- 
ly gifted  and  prepared,  who  can  show  themselves  conversant  with 


111 


and  sympathetic  towards,  the  new  currents  of  thought,  will  re- 
ceive an  attentive  hearing  wherever  they  go,  and  by  the  most 
serious  minds.  The  South  American  likes  the  ‘coufcrcncia’  and 
will  listen  seriously  to  an}'  man  who  not  only  knows  what  other 
people  are  thinking,  hut  who  himself  has  something  definite  to 
say.  Such  a man’s  message  must  he  essential  Cristocentric,  so  that 
when  the  golden  cloud  of  his  eloquence  has  faded  away,  his  audi- 
ence will,  like  the  disciples  on  the  Holy  Mount,  see  none  but 
‘Jesus  only.’  Such  an  apostleship  could  l)e  carried  on  without 
the  evangelist  himself  being  associated  with  any  definite  organ- 
ization, or  being  immediately  interested  in  any  work  of  organ- 
izing. It  will  be  his  to  show  that  Christ  is  worth  being  interested 
in  for  His  own  sake  and  humanity’s  and  not  simply  for  the  sake 
of  relating  oneself  to  this  or  that  phase  of  historical  Christianity. 
As  the  experience  of  the  new  convert  grows  and  deepens  he  will 
feel  his  need  for  association  with  other  kindred  spirits  and  for 
organizing  himself  and  them  into  a grouj)  for  worship,  and  the 
propagation  of  the  Faith  that  saved  him.  We  can  trust,  I think, 
the  living  Spirit  of  God  to  determine  the  exact  form  of  eccle- 
siastical organization  that  will  he  best  for  Spanish-.kmerican 
converts  when  God  visits  the  continent  ‘with  power  from  on 
high.’  In  other  words  let  us  at  the  present  critical  moment  make 
more  of  Christ  and  less  of  denominationalism.” 

“We  are  ten  thousand  miles  away  from  these  people,’’  said  an- 
other worker  recently  when  we  were  discussing  the  problem  of 
evangelism.  That  remark  will  stay  with  me  as  long  as  another 
of  the  same  sort,  made  by  a very  conservative  missionar\'  on  an 
earlier  trij)  to  South  .America  : “We  might  as  well  expect  to  convert 
these  peoj)le  to  Mohammedanism  as  to  the  program  which  we 
Prote.stants  are  now  ])resenting  to  them."  "S'et  this  program  can 
he  both  jxipular  and  definitely  religious.  'I'here  is  no  reason  for 
“soft-i)edaling’'  on  religion  in  a school  or  social  center,  at  a hos- 
pital or  in  a ])uhlic  " conf crcncia."  Scnith  .Vmericans  are  much 
more  accustomed  to  talk  on  religious  topics  than  are  Xorth  .Amer- 
icans. 1 ha\e  been  before  many  a gathering  where  there  was  much 
hostility  to  one  or  both  forms  of  organized  Christianity,  hut  never 
have  found  opposition  to  a frank  and  tactful  declaration  that  I 
believed  in  God  and  was  convinced  that  direct  and  intimate  con- 
tact with  Him  was  necessary  for  a man’s  or  a nation’s  highest 
development.  Along  these  lines  one  may  present  his  profoundest 
convictions,  and  his  audiences  will  continue  to  grow  in  interest  and 


112 


in  culture.  Many  will  never,  as  far  as  one  can  tell,  do  more  tlian 
listen.  ( Though  if  one  should  later  overhear  their  remaks  to  a 
friend  at  the  club  or  on  the  plaza,  he  might  he  greatly  surprised 
at  their  commendations.)  Some  will  come  privately,  as  did  Nico- 
demus  to  ask  about  one’s  own  religious  life.  Then  comes  the 
opportunitv  to  explaiii  a belief  in  the  organization  to  which  you 
belong  and  what  it  offers  in  comradeship  in  the  w'orship  of  God 
and  the  service  of  men.  Most  of  these  will  go  aw'ay  sorrowing 
and  do  nothing  more  than  speak  a good  word  for  your  cause, 
when  some  Sanhedrin  is  trying  to  condemn  you  to  ecclesiastical 
death.  But  there  will  also  be  those  like  “Dionysios,  the  Areopagite, 
a w'oman  called  Damaris,  and  some  others." 

Excellent  results  will  he  achieved  in  any  ho.spital,  community 
center,  school  or  social  program  where  people  are  invited  to  come 
for  the  .service  itself,  wdiich  is  rendered  as  a part  of  character 
building.  Enemies  of  the  Ivvangelical  Church  represent  it  as  a 
foreign  organization  come  to  “jiropagate"  a religion  the  purpose 
of  wdrich  is  to  destroy  the  older  religion  and  customs  of  the  people 
and  win  their  allegiance  to  foreign  ideas.  And  many  mission- 
aries. afraid  that  they  will  not  be  ‘‘true  to  their  colors”  allow  them- 
.selves  to  he  driven  into  that  false  jiosition.  It  is  false  to  say  that 
missionaries  are  in  South  America  to  work  against  Roman 
Catholici.sm  and  the  national  aspirations  of  the  people.  If  that 
is  what  opponents  mean  h\'  proi)aganda,  then  they  are  not  sent  out 
for  that  purpose.  The  missionary  goes  to  South  America  to  help 
the  people  to  live  better,  purer  lives,  more  useful  to  their  day  and 
generation.  He  believes  that  to  live  such  a life  one  needs  to  recog- 
nize God  and  obey  His  word.  This  is  the  missionary’s  message. 
"H’hen  it  comes  to  organization,  he  believes  there  are  different  ones, 
all  with  good  points.  He  belongs  to  one  of  these,  for  he  believes 
that  through  it  he  gets  most  help  in  worshipping  God  and  serving 
men.  He  does  not  claim  perfection  for  this  organization,  since  it 
is  made  up  of  imperfect  people.  But  he  loves  it  and  believes  he 
will  be  rendering  a wonderful  service  to  another  by  introducing 
him  to  that  organization.  I have  yet  to  find  a T^tin  American  who 
is  not  interested  in  a position  of  that  kind,  although  he  may  not 
always  adopt  it. 

Even  among  missionaries  there  are  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
whether  one  should  always  urge  people  to  join  an  evangelical 
church  or  whether  at  times  it  is  well  to  advi.se  them  to  remain 
in  the  Catholic  Church  and  to  become  the  best  kind  of  a Christian 


113 


there.  Of  course  most  missionaries  feel  an  obligation  to  give  the 
advice,  if  not  to  exert  real  pressure,  to  join  the  evangelical  ranks. 
Not  a few,  however,  are  coming  to  believe  that  it  is  eminently  worth 
while  to  bring  people  to  a realization  of  their  personal  relations 
and  responsibilities  to  God,  and  to  leave  them  to  make  their  own 
decisions  concerning  the  church  through  which  they  will  show 
their  loyalty. 

Latin  America  hungers  for  the  message  of  Christ.  It  does  not 
like  the  purely  Anglo-Saxon  method  of  presenting  that  message, 
nor  does  it  care  for  an  emphasis  on  dogma.  Said  a very  fine 
Chilean  gentleman  recently,  when  e.xplaining  his  unwillingness  to 
join  a Protestant  church,  “i  will  do  anything  for  Christ,  but  noth- 
ing for  controversy.”  With  only  a preaching  program  evangelical 
forces  may  be  in  cities  like  Ifuenos  Aires.  Havana,  Lima  and 
Santiago  the  whole  twentieth  century  and  still  the  people  will  be 
large!}'  ignorant  of  their  presence  or  indifferent  to  it. 

Latin  America  needs  a religion  which  will  help  each  individual 
to  solve  his  problems.  A ju'ofessor  in  the  Normal  School  in  Peru 
said:  “The  kind  of  religion  we  would  accept  would  be  one  that 
emphasized  beauty,  love  and  service — one  that  takes  you  away 
from  fear.  I left  the  Catholic  Church  because  they  were  always 
talking  about  the  ‘itifionio.'  May  be  it  will  be  as  horrible  as  they 
say,  but  I propose  to  have  at  least  a little  respite  from  it.  We  want 
something  encouraging,  not  an  everlasting  threat.  Teach  us  a 
religion  that  exalts  life  and  service  and  we  will  accept  it.”  There 
is  needed  likewise  a religion  that  will  help  to  solve  the  problems 
of  each  nation.  In  discussing  with  a thoughtful  Chilean  the  ques- 
tion of  a probable  uprising  of  the  common  people  of  that  country 
against  the  privileged  clas.ses.  he  said  that  the  only  hope  he  saw 
of  preventing  it,  was  the  starting  by  the  Protestant  Churches  of 
,a  movement  of  sufficient  strerigth  to  bring  about  the  necessary 
reforms  through  education.  Enlightenment  and  unselfishness  is 
the  only  hope  for  the  solution  of  the  industrial,  economic,  moral, 
social  and  political  problems  that  multiply  so  rapidly  in  these 
/;ountries.  With  the  mistakes  of  Anglo-Saxon  countries  as  a 
guide,  the  new  industrialism  might  prevent  the  exploitation  of 
women  and  children  or  the  clashing  of  labor  and  capital;  and  to 
encourage  the  development  of  proper  philanthropic  organizations, 
of  eleemosynary  institutions,  of  recreative  facilities  for  the  young 
and  of  an  educational  system  that  will  put  morality  first.  But 


114 


Protestantism  at  present  is  far  from  meeting  these  needs,  or  even 
planning  for  it. 

It  would  seem  that  evangelical  missionaries  in  Latin  America 
have  three  distinctive  services  to  render.  One  is  the  building  up 
of  an  evangelical  church  which  shall  furnish  a spiritual  home 
and  a working  organization  through  which  its  membership  shall 
do  its  part  in  serving  God  and  humanity.  Another  is  the  cleansing 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  from  the  error  and  superstition 
which  clogs  its  Christian  service.  The  third  is  the  uplift  of  whole 
communities  to  where  everyone  has  a chance  to  be  physically, 
morally  and  spiritually  at  his  best.  Which  of  these  services  is 
most  imjjortant,  who  can  say?  They  are  more  or  less  interlocked 
in  development. 

No  one  knows  what  will  be  the  final  form  of  religion  in  South 
America.  Some  Protestant  missionaries  look  forward  to  the  time 
when  the  continent  will  become  evangelical  in  its  religious  organ- 
ization. Others  expect  that  a majority  will  always  be  Roman 
Catholic,  but  that  they  will  follow  a transformed  Catholicism. 
Whether  both  shall  grow  toward  the  perfect  unity  for  which 
Christ  prayed,  until  their  peculiarities  are  merged  in  a perfect 
Church  tliat  will  cause  the  world  to  believe  that  “Thou  hast  sent 
Me” — this  is  not  given  for  this  generation  to  know.  But  prac- 
tically, anyone  who  is  contributing  to  the  accomplishment  of  any 
of  these  three  services  may  feel  that  he  is  working  to  bring  about 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  W orkers,  like  members  of  the 
body,  will  do  the  particular  service  for  which  they  are  best  pre- 
pared. But  let  the  mouth  that  speaks  say  not  to  the  hand  that 
ministers  or  writes,  or  to  the  foot  that  carries  the  humble  col- 
porteur over  the  mountains,  “because  thou  are  not  the  mouth, 
thou  art  not  the  body.”  And  just  as  important  is  it  that  these 
members  say  not  to  the  mouth,  “because  thou  art  not  a minister- 
ing member,  thou  art  not  of  the  body.”  For  all  are  members  of 
the  same  body,  Christ  being  the  head. 

In  preparing  these  notes  for  pulilication  it  occurs  to  me  that 
this  final  section  may  strike  some  readers  as  a wholesale  condemna- 
tion of  both  the  methods  employed  and  the  results  already  to  the 
credit  of  Evangelical  Christianity  in  Latin  America.  Perhaps 
•criticisms  have  not  always  been  qualified  with  sufficient  commenda- 
tion of  that  work  and  of  the  faithful  men  and  women  who  have 
carried  it  into  effect.  I hope  these  workers  will  in  no  case  feel 
aggrieved.  I know  their  work,  their  sacrifices,  their  achieve- 


115 


nients.  If  strictures  are  implied  they  are  not  upon  persons,  but 
upon  a system,  for  it  has  been  written  by  a missionary  who  has 
given  many  years  of  his  life  to  work  through  the  ordinary 
methods  now  in  use.  If  there  has  been  brief  mention  of  mis- 
sionary stations  and  organizations  it  is  because  in  1917  a full 
statement  of  these  under  the  title  of  “Christian  Co-operation  in 
Latin  America,”  was  published  and  can  be  readily  obtained.  These 
observations  imply  that  sympathetic  missionary  background  with 
which  the  writer  is  in  heartiest  accord.  They  merely  emphasize 
the  necessity  of  cultivating  personal  relationships  until  at  least 
the  loyalty  of  some  community  leaders  has  been  won  to  the  truth 
and  they  have  become  interested  in  building  up  a religious  organ- 
ization, having  a voice  in  its  direction,  so  that  it  may  seem  normal 
and  attractive.  They  also  affirm  that  the  only  kind  of  Christianity 
that  will  stir  vision  and  sacrifice  and  prophetic  fervor  in  these  dry 
bones  is  a Christianity  whose  spiritual  powder  is  shown  by  its 
outward  service  to  men  in  need,  rather  than  by  a mere  adherence 
to  doctrine.  They  aim  as  well  to  convey  the  idea  that  Protestant 
forces  should  co-operate  with  all  forces  that  are  honestly  and 
openly  working  for  the  uplift  of  the  people.  Evangelicals  gain 
nothing  by  being  militant  against  Romanism.  Though,  of  course, 
they  cannot  be  expected  to  remain  silent  before  any  reactionary 
forces  that  endeavor  to  control  the  state  and,  the  public  mind. 

Many  of  the  facts  set  down  here  are  deeply  regrettable.  It  is 
regrettable  that  many  Latin  Americans  do  not  regard  religion  as 
a help ; that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  South  America  is 
more  active  in  political  schemes  than  in  spiritual  service ; that 
the  Anglo-Saxon  ways  are  not  acceptable  to  Latins;  that  many 
refuse  to  take  for  granted  the  good  points  of  our  religion  that 
we  feel  sure  are  there.  But  certainly  we  gain  nothing  by  ignoring 
these  facts.  Indeed  it  would  seem  that  we  need  nothing  more 
in  the  development  of  a constructive  spiritual  movement  in 
South  America  than  a frank  reckoning  with  the  facts  and  forces 
that  are  now  predominant.  This  will  be,  no  doubt,  one  of  the 
important  parts  of  the  program  of  the  Conference  of  Christian 
Workers  proposed  for  1923  in  the  city  of  Montevideo.  These 
wonderful  i-iew  republics  of  the  Southland  seem  profoundly 
stirred  by  aspirations  for  a new  and  noble  life.  May  it  become 
indeed  the  more  Abundant  Life. 


116 


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